JOSEPH
SMITH,JR.'S
RED BRICK
STORE
ROGER D. LAUNIUS and F. MARK McKIERNAN
Joseph Smith, Jr.'s
Red Brick Store
Joseph Smithy Jr/s
Red Brick Store
by
Roger D. Launius and F. Mark McKiernan
Western Illinois Monograph Series, Number 5
Western Illinois University
Macomb, Illinois
For the "Friends of the Red Brick Store' '
The Western Illinois Monograph Series is published by the College of Arts and
Sciences and University Libraries at Western Illinois University. The Editorial
Board includes A. Gilbert Belles, Carol G. Covey, Evelyn M. Schroth, Robert
P. Sutton, and Donald W. Griffin, Chairman. The series supports studies in the
history, geography, literature, and culture of the western Illinois region. Corres-
pondence about monographs in print or the submission of manuscripts for review
should be sent to the Chairman of the Editorial Board, Western Illinois Monog-
raph Series, College of Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb,
Illinois 6 1455.
Copyright 1 985 by Western Illinois University
Cover design by David J . Kelly
Foreword
Participating in the reconstruction of the Joseph Smith, Jr., Red Brick Store
at Nauvoo, Illinois, was a privilege. In 1978 a small group of members of the
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints wanted to make a signifi-
cant gift to the movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., during its 1980 ses-
quicentennial. The "Friends of the Red Brick Store," a group of twelve Reor-
ganized Church members, agreed to make personal contributions to the total cost
of the reconstruction of the store .
The gift of the Red Brick Store from the "Friends" is to all people, especially
those who trace their religious heritage to Joseph Smith, Jr., and the movement
he founded. The store is a special historic site to members of both the Reorganized
Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the reconstruction of the Red Brick Store the "Friends" have not only re-
stored a structure significant to the history of Nauvoo and Joseph Smith, Jr., but
have also restored a space in which many individuals shared a divine encounter.
It is for them a sacred space.
It was a pleasure to serve as chairman of the executive committee for the recon-
struction of the Red Brick Store. The "Friends" and all who participated in the
reconstruction of this significant historic building have earned my deep apprecia-
tion.
C. Eugene Austin, Sr.
Council of Twelve Apostles
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christof Latter Day Saints
Preface
The Red Brick Store, built by Joseph Smith, Jr., in Nauvoo, Illinois, during
the heyday of the Latter Day Saint sojourn there, is a unique building. One of the
most important structures in the city, around it revolved much of the economic,
political, religious, and social activity of the Mormon stronghold. After the
exodus of the majority of the Mormons in the city in the mid- 1840s, the building
declined in importance and deteriorated. It was eventually torn down and its brick
used to construct other buildings in the community. For nearly ninety years all
that was left of the store was its foundation. Because of the intense historic recon-
struction effort in Nauvoo, however, in 1978 the Reorganized Church, owners
of the Red Brick Store site, decided to reconstruct the building as part of its 1980
sesquicentennial celebration. Since that time it has been an important stop for visi-
tors to historic Nauvoo. This monograph contains a recapitulation of the struc-
ture's history from its first building through demolition to reconstruction. It also
contains a portion of the daybook used to record business transactions in the store
during the first two years of its existence. We have sought to write the history
of the building with candor, for within its walls both triumphant and tragic events
occurred.
This study could not have been completed without the help of many people.
Special thanks are due to the staffs of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints Library- Archives, Independence. Missouri; the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints Historical Department, Salt Lake City, Utah; the
Joseph Smith Historic Center, Nauvoo, Illinois; the Special Collections Depart-
ment, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo. Utah; the Utah
State Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah; and the Masonic Library. Cedar
Rapids. Iowa. We also wish to express appreciation to Dr. Robert T. Bray. Uni-
versity of Missouri-Columbia; Kenneth E. Stobaugh, Joseph Smith Historic Cen-
ter, Nauvoo, Illinois; the late Dr. T. Edgar Lyon, University of Utah. Salt Lake
City. Utah; Dr. Richard L. Anderson. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah;
Eugene Theys, Independence, Missouri; George Lund, Overland Park, Kansas;
Francis E. Hansen, Independence, Missouri; C. Eugene Austin. Independence,
Missouri; and others too numerous to mention.
R.D.L.
F.M.M.
Contents
1 . Storekeeping in Nauvoo 9
2. Center of Nauvoo Society 19
3. From Decline to Destruction, 1844-1890 33
4. Store Reconstruction 41
5. Red Brick Store Daybook 51
Notes 77
Storekeeping in Nauvoo
During the bitter winter of 1 838-39 some 5,000 Latter Day Saints crossed the
Mississippi River from Missouri and settled in western Illinois. Since its inception
almost ten years before, this group of religious pioneers, led by Joseph Smith,
Jr., had been the brunt of political rhetoric, social ostracism, and in some cases
mob violence.' These people came to Illinois in 1838 and 1839 not as ordinary
settlers, but as religious refugees from neighboring Missouri, the state's popula-
tion expelling them following a brutal and deadly conflict.
In Illinois during the eariy 1 840s these people built one of the most impressive
and powerful cities in the wilderness, the community of Nauvoo, erected with de-
dication and sacrifice by the Mormons on a limestone flat by the banks of the Mis-
sissippi River some fifty miles north of Quincy." Throughout the first half of the
1840s Nauvoo dominated Hancock County with its wealth, population, cultural
achievements, and military and political power. For the Saints, the rise of this
mighty religious commonwealth was the fulfillment of the shattered dreams of
previous church-dominated communities at Kirtland, Ohio, and Independence
and Far West, Missouri . They believed that God had finally enabled them to begin
the establishment of His Kingdom on earth.''
The Mormons began construction of the city of Nauvoo during the summer
of 1839 and continued a massive building program until the church abandoned
the site in eariy 1846."* By the endof their first year at Nauvoo, the Saints posses-
sed what was essentially an overgrown wilderness community of log homes, a
few shops, and an infant mercantile and manufacturing economy. Building
seemed to be taking place on every side. George Miller, later a bishop in the
church, captured the vitality of Nauvoo in the summer of 1840, enthusing that
the community "was growing like a mushroom (as it were, by magic). "^ Near
the same time Joseph Smith remarked "The number of inhabitants is nearly three
thousand, and is fast increasing. If we are suffered to remain, there is every pros-
pect of its becoming one of the largest cities on the river, if not the western world.
Numbers have moved in from the seaboard, and a few from the islands of the
sea."^ The city continued to grow rapidly thereafter. According to newspaper
editor Thomas Gregg of Warsaw, Illinois, during the heyday of Nauvoo, the
Saints built about "1 ,200 hand-hewn log cabins, most of them white-washed in-
side, 200 to 300 good substantial brick houses and 300 to 500 frame houses. "^
Nauvoo was, in essence, a boom town, and no one was a greater booster than
Joseph Smith. Smith wrote to Edward Hunter, a recent convert to Mormonism
10 Joseph Smith. Jr.
from Pennsylvania, in December, 1841, about business prospects in the city.
"There are scarcely any limits which can be imagined to the mills and machinery
and manufacturing of all kinds which might be put into profitable operation in this
city," he boasted, "and even if others should use a mill before you get here, it
need be no discouragement to either you or Brother Buchwalter, for it will be diffi-
cult for the mills to keep pace with the growth of the place, and you will do well
to bring the engine. "^
His enthusiasm was justified, for Nauvoo seemed to the Saints the most mag-
nificent place on earth. Nauvoo's population doubled every year between 1839
and 1842. and continued its rise until 1846. Most of the inhabitants were Saints,
and they were intent on bringing to fruition the spiritual and secular community
that they had long sought. The most important expression of the community's
meaning was a majestic temple symbolizing not only the substantial nature of the
church in the 1840s but also a rapidly developing Mormon theology that ran
counter to common American religious beliefs. Excavation for the foundation
began as early as the fall of 1840, but the real impetus to build the Temple came
on January 19, 1841, when Joseph Smith proclaimed a revelation commanding
the building's construction.'^ Thereafter, work on the religious edifice continued
by the Saints with zest for the next five years. Built of gray limestone, the building
came to dominate Nauvoo from its perch atop the bluffs overlooking the city. It
stood 165-feet high, measured 88 by 128 feet, and cost something over $1 mil-
lion-a not inconsiderable sum at the time. '"
The demands of the Temple's construction, as well as other building projects,
stretched the Saints' resources almost to the point of breaking. The men of Nauvoo
were expected to donate one day in ten to construction work on the Temple and
to make at least one-tenth of their earnings an offering to the church for this project
and other expenses. Those who had cash were expected to donate it to the effort,
but if they had none, as was the case with most of the Saints, the church accepted
the equivalent in goods. As a result. Temple finance rested squarely on barter.
Consequently, some men worked full-time on the Temple and received their pay
in bartered goods from the resources donated by others." Using this system of
finance and work over a period of years, the citizens of Nauvoo erected their Tem-
ple.
The Nauvoo of the early 1 840s provided a heady business atmosphere for its
inhabitants. As a boom town it was possible for fortunes to be made or lost quick-
ly. The city, therefore, attracted a large number of entrepreneurs, businessmen,
investors, and speculators. The most substantial economic group within the city
were honest businessmen; some were not affiliated with the church, but most were
members. Quickly after its founding, the citizens of Nauvoo were supporting two
Hictinrt hiiQinpss Histrirts One waQ nn thp «r»iithprn pnH alnna Main and Watpr
Storekeeping in Nauvoo 11
On the southern end nearest the river were several general stores and manufactur-
ing concerns, most notably the store operated by William and Wilson Law. two
wealthy church members from Canada, and virtually all of the business enterprises
that required water power such as grist mills and lumber yards. In the upper district
several other businesses were established during 1841 and 1842. For instance, M.
Adams's boot and shoe repair; Jasper Haven's drugstore; Power and Adams's
books, shoes, and matches; Davis's and Williams's tailor shop; a leather store op-
erated by Joseph Home, P.D. Gaboon's auctioneering activities; and Joseph Ham-
mer's comb factory all operated along the Mulholland business district. '"
In all. the range of businesses attracted to the city was impressive. These in-
cluded manufacturers of textiles and clothing, straw products, matches, soap and
candles, leather goods, wagons, and rope. Craftsmen plied their trades in the Mor-
mon mecca as well. Included among them were tanners, blacksmiths, sil-
versmiths, a goldsmith, watchmakers, ironmongers, a coffin maker, a gunsmith,
several wainwrights, and a tool manufacturer. The city also held promise for
businessmen owning foundries, grist mills, sawmills, butcher shops, and printing
establishments. Plans were even made for the construction of a chinaware factory
to be manned by converts from the pottery works of Staffordshire, England. Fi-
nally, Nauvoo provided a variety of commercial and professional services. It had
nine law firms, three physicians, three newspapers, and several professional
teachers. '"*
There were, in addition to other economic activities, some thirty-five general
stores in Nauvoo. For example. Edwin D. Wooley and Edward Hunter each oper-
ated profitable stores in the Mulholland Street business district. Possibly the most
prosperous of the stores established during the early years of the Saints' sojourn
at Nauvoo was a store operated by the brothers Law. '"^ While the Law brothers'
store was most productive, undoubtedly the most important general store in
Nauvoo was built by Joseph Smith during the fall of 1 841 and opened for business
the next January. It was housed in a two-story brick building on Water Street not
far from his home. The prophet stocked the store with every conceivable item sold
by frontier merchants, and enjoyed running it himself until the spring of 1842
when he found that it took too much effort and proved unprofitable. '''
Joseph Smith III. the prophet's son. described the construction process. He
remembered that as a boy he "was an almost daily visitor on the lot when this
building was being erected, became acquainted with the workmen, and watched
the primitive methods used." He noted especially the manner in which the work-
men fashioned the interior wooden columns supporting the ceiling. He wrote:
Cross posts were driven into the ground some distance apart, like an
extended sawbuck, and a stick of timber out of which the posts were
to be turned was laid in these forks. A crank, fastened to the end, turned
the post while the workmen held the tools against it cutting away the
r»iitcirlp ;inrl Ifavino thp fini»;hf>rl nippp tn hp iispH in thp hiiilHino This
12 Joseph Smith, Jr.
was the first turning lathe I ever saw and, I may add, the only one of
its kind I have ever seen .
The workmen quickly erected the spacious brick building throughout the fall of
1 841 . Joseph Smith III remembered that Francis Clark and his brother David, who
had a stone quarry on Parley Street on the outskirts of Nauvoo, did the stone work
for the building. They cut the frames for the doors and windows and the stone
for the steps from a "variety [of stone] called free stone which was brought from
across the river. "'^
As the walls of the Red Brick Store went up, the prophet made preparations
for its opening . On November 8 , 1 84 1 , Smith recorded that he had received a letter
from Bishop Newel K. Whitney, the church's chief financial officer, reporting
that he had purchased $5,000 worth of goods for the new store in the Northeast.
In December, Smith received a stock of goods for the store, purchased by Edward
Hunter, which he accepted "as payment on your debt, so far as it goes." Hunter
had purchased land from Smith in Nauvoo in September of 1841 and still owed
$3,500 for it and the cost of a home he was having built on it. '^ Just three days
before Christmas Smith commented that ' 'Thirteen wagons arrived from Warsaw,
loaded with sugar, molasses, glass, salt, tea, coffee, &c, purchased in St. Louis."
He added that this was not the original stock, which had been purchased in New
Orleans, but replacements. The original had been confiscated in St. Louis by "one
Holbrook, innkeeper, under false pretenses. ' ' ' ^ It seems that the Firm of Holbrook
and Co. had claimed these goods in compensation for two unsettled notes taken
out by the church in 1 837, one for $287 and the other for an undetermined amount.
Consequently, Holbrook was trying to collect a bad debt. '"^ Throughout the month
of December, 1841 , therefore, Joseph was involved in readying his store for open-
ing, although, as he reported on December 14, "The joiners and masons are yet
at work in the lower part of the building . " "^*^
It was not unusual for Joseph Smith to operate a general store in Nauvoo during
the 1840s. Theproprietorshipof a store was a very fitting profession for a commu-
nity leader on the frontier. And while the store as reconstructed in Nauvoo may
appear modest in size to modern observers, in frontier Illinois it was truly an im-
pressive building. The leading commercial center on the Upper Mississippi was
at St. Louis, and the Red Brick Store was as large and well-stocked as most of
the establishments in that city. It was considerably more impressive than most of
the stores located outside St. Louis. For instance, in 1836 the first store to be
opened in Davenport, Iowa Territory, was a single-room, shingled log cabin
measuring 16 by 20 feet. Moreover, a store at the river town of Arrow Rock, Mis-
souri, was quite typical of most frontier establishments. Lewis E. Atherton, an
able historian of frontier storekeeping, described this facility:
The framework was of hewed logs, laid lengthwise, the chinks be-
tween the logs filled with clay and lime. The structure itself consisted
of two rooms, each about 20 feet square - one to be used for a sales
Storekeeping in Nauvoo J3
room, the other for storing goods. . . . Interior walls were
whitewashed, except in the salesroom, where there were shelves rang-
ing along all four sides. A counter of boards, 30 inches wide and 12
feet long, extended from the window to the partition wall between the
sections, the larger of which could be entered by the front door. The
smaller section opened into the storeroom, an arrangement that permit-
ted easy access to supplies not on the shelves and provided an area in
which the clerk could sell goods without hindrance from customers.
A large shoebox or hatbox served as a desk, and money was kept in
a drawer under the counter, with a small hole cut through the top of
the counter for convenience and safety when business was heavy . ^ '
By contrast, the Red Brick Store was one of the finest mercantile establish-
ments in the region. Joseph Smith described his store with obvious pride to Ed-
ward Hunter on January 5, 1842. He wrote:
I am happy that it is my privilege to say to you that the large build-
ing which I had commenced when you were here is now completed,
and the doors are opened this day for sale of goods for the first time.
The foundation of the building is somewhat spacious (as you will
doubtless recollect) for a country store.
The principal part of the building below, which is ten feet high,
is devoted exclusively to shelves and drawers, except one door opening
back into the space, on the left of where are the cellar and chamber
stairs opens a door into the large front room of the same size with the
one below, the walls lined with counters, covered with reserved goods.
The painting of the store has been executed by Edward Martin, one
of our English brethren; and the counters, drawers, and pillars present
a very respectable representation of oak, mahogany and marble for a
backwoods establishment.""
On January 5, 1842, when Smith opened his store to the public for the first
time, the building became a center of the economic life of the community. The
prophet described his activities on that day:
The Lord has blessed our exertions in a wonderful manner, and al-
though some individuals have succeeded in detaining goods to a con-
siderable amount for the time being, yet we have been enabled to se-
cure goods in the building sufficient to fill all the shelves as soon as
they were completed, and have some in reserve, both in loft and cellar.
Our assortment is tolerably good - very good considering the dif-
ferent times, and under circumstances which controlled their choice to
some extent; but I rejoice that we have been enabled to do as well as
we have, for the hearts of many of the poor brethren and sisters will
be made glad with those comforts which are now within their reach.
The store had been filled to overflowing, and I have stood behind
the counter all day, dealing out goods as steady as any clerk you ever
saw, to oblige those who were compelled to go without their usual
14 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Christmas and New Year's dinners, for the want of a little sugar,
molasses, raisins, &c, &c; and to please myself also, for I love to wait
upon the Saints, and be a servant to all, hoping that I may be exalted
in the due time of the Lord.""*
The prophet did a brisk business in the Red Brick Store from the very outset.
Many of the Saints on the south end of town had accounts there and the only extant
daybook of the store, maintaining records for the period between June 23. 1842,
and June 22, 1 844, contained all the prominent people of the community. Indeed,
it read like a "who's who" of early Mormonism. A particularly busy day for the
store took place on Saturday, July 2, 1 842, as the Saints prepared for a huge Inde-
pendence Day celebration the next Monday. The following list was representative
of this day's trade:""*
178 Joseph Smith
To 95 "'Sugar fa 1/ 11.88
To 17'^ Codfish (a 1.70
To Paid this amount
toman 10.00
To 2 fine Straw Bonnets
for Eliza Partridge 7.00
To 278'^ Sugar (?i 12^' 33.39 = $63.94
165 Wilford Woodruff
To 3 11/16'^ L Sugar .75
To 2 '/2 Yds Blk Camb @ 1/6 .47
To 1 Spade 10/ 1.25 = 2.47
166 Wilson Law
To 1 Whip 12/ 1.50
201 Willard Richards
To P*^ Caroline Tomlinson 1.75
To P^ Miss Nickerson 1.00 = 2.75
(For Clayton)
159 William Law for Wife
To 8 Yd Calico (a 1/ 1.00
To 1 pr Small Shoes 8/ 1.00 = 2.00
205 JWCoolidge
To Ipr Shoes 2.00
To 12 Yd Stripe Cotton
Buttons
To Thread Hkfs
To 2 Yds Sheeting
187 Brigham Young
To 1 pr Shoes
To 1 do Small Shoes
To 1 Cradle Scythe for Man
3.88
1.25
.25 =
= 7.38
2.25
1.00
1.50 =
= 4.75
Storekeeping in Nauvoo ^-5
182 Nauvoo House
To I pr Shoes frH Miller 1.63
To Pines 1 13
To Jeans 35
To Ipr Boots.. 4.00 = 6.11
195 W.W.Phelps
To 1 Yd Ribband .13
177 N.K.Whitney
To3DozEggs .19
To 1 pr Shoes 1 2/ 1.50
To 2 Barlows 2/ .25
To Wicking& Gloves 3/6 .44 = 2.38
199 Theodore Turley
To 2 Combs for Girl .25
35 Porter Rockwell
To 1/2 Doz S . Col lars Ca 2/3 1 . 69
212 Temple Committee
To Ipr Boots Del^Wm Kimball 3.50
To Thread for Hulett .19 = 3.69
199 Theodore Turley
To 2 Combs for Girl .25
35 Porter Rockwell
To '/: Doz S . Collars Ca 2/3 1 69
212 Temple Committee
To Ipr Boots DeHWm Kimball 3.50
To Thread for Hulett .19 = 3.69
200 E Robinson
To 1 pr fine Boots 5.00
Tol prKidSlipdl2/ 1.50 = 6.50
96 HeberC. Kimball
To Ipr Boots $4.50
190 V Knight
To 20 Yds Ticking (a 2/ 3.50
To 32 do Sheeting ra 13(J 4.16 = 7.66
The goods which these individuals purchased from the Red Brick Store had been
stocked from wholesalers, usually in St. Louis, New Orleans, or Chicago.
The prophet's store served not only as a place to purchase goods, but also acted
as a frontier bank. In this regard, transactions between individuals were recorded
in the store's ledgers and accounts of personal business dealings were maintained
by the proprietor. For instance, on March 20, 1843, Robert D. Foster, a prosper-
ous businessman in the city, paid E. Rhodes $421 .77 for principal and interest
on three notes he had secured on July 4, 1842.-'^ The store itself also served as
bank, loaning capital to individuals with good credit. Joseph W. Coolidge,
another businessman, borrowed $1 ,000 at 12 percent interest, and made regular
payments to the store for this privilege."^ More than this, however. Smith con-
ducted real estate transactions from the store. As an example, on October 9, 1 843,
76 Joseph Smith, Jr.
one Robert Campbell rented from Smith a house on the corner of Main and Water
streets in Nauvoo for the sum of four dollars per month. This transaction was re-
corded in the store's daybook.'^
Additionally, the store served as the operating location from which the bishop
collected the tithes of church members. It was also a distribution point for Temple
workmen receiving their wages or goods in exchange for labor. It served as the
point from which supplies were issued to work crews both within the city and those
sent north to the Black River, Wisconsin, pineries to cut lumber for the construc-
tion of Nauvoo buildings. Furthermore, the store collected city taxes, paid city
employees, sold subscriptions of the church newspapers, and engaged in other
economic pursuits. All of these were reflected in the store's daybook. "^^
In spite of the constant activity at the Red Brick Store, Joseph Smith suffered
tremendous economic setbacks in the business. This was probably the result of
two factors. First, although business was adequate, as already mentioned, Nauvoo
had developed two distinct business districts. On the southern end of the city
Smith's store competed chiefly with the shop operated by the Law brothers, but
the upper business district boasted several general stores, many of which were
under the proprietorship of non-Mormons. The nonmember storeowners were
generally better financed than the church members; they could better afford to buy
in quantity and at lower prices while still showing a profit. The result was an
overly competitive business climate for the Saints in Nauvoo. "^^
The second reason for economic failure at the Red Brick Store was closely
allied to the first. The prophet's business was built on too much credit and too
little cash. The majority of the people Smith served in the store were poor Latter
Day Saints, but Smith could not just allow them to starve and he operated on less
than fully sound business principles. The result was greater indebtedness for his
store. To offset this outpouring of finances. Smith tapped church sources, using
tithing donations and borrowing heavily to keep the store open. When these ap-
proaches could be used no longer. Smith called personally upon wealthy church
members to acquire more assets for the store. ^°
For example, on several occasions Smith asked Edward Hunter and Edwin D.
Wooley for money or goods, presenting his requests as necessary for the welfare
of the church. On March 9, 1 842, Smith wrote to Hunter about their business deal-
ings. In this letter. Smith instructed Hunter to divert funds dedicated to the Temple
and Nauvoo House construction projects that he had collected for use in the pro-
curement of commodities for sale or trade in the Red Brick Store. He told Hunter,
' 'The eight hundred dollars for the Temple and Nauvoo House, I wish you to bring
in goods, for which I will give you stock and credit as soon as received." He con-
tinued:
I wish you to invest as much money as you possibly can in goods, to
bring here, and I will purchase them of you when you come, if we can
agree on terms; . . . Some eight or ten thousand dollars worth of goods
would be an advantage to this place, therefore, if you or some of the
Storekeeping in Nauvoo 17
brethren, would bring them or, have no doubt but that I can arrange
for them in some way to your and their advantage.- '
Why did Smith operate in such an unsound financial manner? Obviously, the
church membership needed assistance and his well-known generosity prompted
him in that direction. But, in addition, Brigham Young offered a complementary
explanation in the 1 850s when he refused to allow the Latter-day Saint organiza-
tion in Utah to develop an official store. He told a congregation in Salt Lake City
on October 9, 1852:
"Why does not our Church keep a store here?" Many can answer
that question who have lived ... in Nauvoo, . . . Let me give you a
few reasons . . . why Joseph could not keep a store, and be a merchant.
. . . Joseph goes to New York and buys 20,000 dollars worth of goods,
comes into [Nauvoo] and commences to trade. In comes one of the
brethren, "Brother Joseph, let me have a frock pattern for my wife."
What if Joseph says, "No, I cannot without the money." The conse-
quence would be, "He is no Prophet." . . . After a while, in comes
Bill and sister Susan. Says Bill, "Brother Joseph, I want a shawl, I
have not got the money, but I wish you to trust me a week or a
fortnight." Well, brother Joseph . . . lets Bill have a shawl. Bill walks
off with it and meets a brother. "Well," says he, "what do you think
of brother Joseph?" "O he is a first-rate man, and I fully believe he
is a Prophet. See here, he has trusted me with this shawl." Richard
says, "I think I will go down and see if he won't trust me some." In
walks Richard. "Brother Joseph I want to trade about 20 dollars."
"Well," says Joseph "these goods will make the people apostatize;
so over they go, they are of less value than the people." Richard gets
his goods. Another comes in the same way to make a trade of 25 dol-
lars, and so it goes. Joseph was a first-rate fellow with them all the
time, provided he never would ask them to pay him .
Young suggested that the church membership would "lie awake nights" deciding
means to pay debts to non-members, but they expected unlimited credit from the
Saints. ^"^ It appears, therefore, that Joseph Smith had more interest in distributing
commodities to Mormon brethren than in running a profitable business.
In addition to the financial difficulties incumbent on the prophet's continued
management of the Red Brick Store, his other duties certainly mitigated against
his proprietorship over a store. In the spring of 1 842, Smith was not only president
of the church but also Nauvoo mayor, chief magistrate, registrar of deeds, and
commander of the Nauvoo Legion. Additionally, he oversaw closely the church
construction projects, was involved in the production of the Book of Abraham,
and had several other pastoral duties. As a result. Smith turned responsibility for
the store over to others; after March, 1842, references to his mercantile business
were notably lacking in his history. Ebenezer Robinson, a young man who had
joined the church in 1 835 and had operated and edited the Times and Seasons from
18 Joseph Smith, Jr.
1839 to 1842, and David Yearsley, a Nauvoo businessman, were known to have
managed the store temporarily. More than two years later, in the May 15, 1844,
issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor, Hiram Kimball , brother of a member of the Council
of Twelve Apostles, advertized that he was operating a "general dry goods store"
on the first floor of the prophet's building while Smith retained the second floor
for office and meeting space. -^^
A final reason behind Smith's ending his career as a merchant in Nauvoo in
April of 1842 was his realization of the extent of his indebtedness - some
$73,066.38 - and the possibility of absorbing it through a recently enacted bank-
ruptcy law."*** This law was the first federal act to allow debtors to institute volun-
tary bankruptcy proceedings. The only previous federal laws had permitted only
compulsory bankruptcy declared at the behest of creditors. ^■''
Immediately after passage, the Quincy law firm of Ralston. Warren, and
Wheat inaugurated a forceful advertising campaign designed to win clients takmg
advantage of the new liberal act. In April, 1842, The Wasp, a secular Nauvoo
newspaper edited by William B. Smith, carried an advertisement that the Quincy
firm was "prepared to attend to all applications for discharge under the Bankrupt-
cy Law," adding that members of the firm would be in Nauvoo soon in search
of business. ^^ Calvin A. Warren visited Nauvoo on April 14, 1842, and discussed
the advantages of a declaration of bankruptcy with Joseph Smith. Within a month.
The Wasp published notices that Smith, his brother Hyrum, and his close associate
Sidney Rigdon had filed petitions for bankruptcy. -^^ Certainly, Smith was hoping
to discharge his debts through the bankruptcy act, and the removal of one bad risk
from his responsibility would most assuredly improve his financial standing. All
of this legal maneuvering came to nothing, however, for the court disallowed his
petition in the summer and fall of 1 842. ^^
After the summer of 1842, Smith did not become involved again in the daily
operations of the Red Brick Store. He was constantly in the building and certainly
his influence was keenly felt, but another proprietor handled the management of
the store. It was during this period that the edited daybook was kept, a fascinating
record of the transactions of an elite group of people in Mormon Nauvoo. Between
mid- 1842 and June, 1844, Smith used the building for offices and religious and
civic meetings.
2
Center of Nauvoo Society
The Red Brick Store served the needs of the Mormon community of Nauvoo
in many more ways than as simply a place to purchase goods. To a very real extent
it was a center of community life. It quickly became a key location for meetings
involving church business and civic gatherings of all types. It was, moreover, a
place where those with a few minutes of idle time might pass it pleasantly with
other loungers around the large stove in the center of the storeroom. It was also
a place where all - men, women, and children - met and reinforced the already
strong ties of community that the Saints had developed within the church. In addi-
tion to this the building was used as a church office building. Joseph Smith, for
instance, maintained his office and research room on the second floor, and the
Bishopric and Nauvoo Temple Committee had an office where tithes could be
paid, property could be registered, and the temporal affairs of the church could
be overseen.'
Although Nauvoo was a frontier community and therefore lacking in the cul-
tural elements of more established cities, the Latter Day Saints as a group sup-
ported enthusiastically events usually associated with large cities. The community
had a band, staged dramatic expositions, held lectures and debates, and engaged
in various fraternal and humanitarian organizations. The membership also spon-
sored a diverse set of schools ranging from the elementary to the university levels.
The Red Brick Store served as a center of many of these activities because, accord-
ing to the prophet, there was no better place in Nauvoo until the completion in
1 844 of the three-story Masonic Lodge and the two-story Seventies Hall."
Joseph Smith III, for instance, recalled from his boyhood some of the social
activities that took place in the store during the early 1840s. He remembered one
particular incident when he went to the store to escape, in typical boyish fashion,
some chores assigned by his mother and found that his father had spent most of
the afternoon wrestling with customers. The grassy turf outside the store had been
dug up and stomped down by the wrestlers and the excited spectators. As the boy
entered the shop, he heard the men gossiping about the wrestling matches, and
learned that his father had thrown, in turn, everyone in the store. Young Smith
remembered that not long after his arrival, Cornelius P. Lott came in to buy
supplies for his family. Although rather old, Lott was still strong and muscular
and was usually willing to demonstrate his strength. Indeed, the older man carried
a threatening-looking blacksnake whip that seemed to challenge all comers. The
prophet's eyes lit up as Lott walked in and he exclaimed: "Here! I have thrown
20 Joseph Smith, Jr.
down pretty nearly everybody about the place except Brother Lott, and I believe
I can throw him down, too!" The older man, accepting the challenge, cackled
in a high voice, "Well, my boy, if you'll take it catch-as-catch-can you can't
throw old man Lott ! ' '
Smith took off his coat and vest and Lott discarded his whip, and the two
headed outside to the wrestling area followed by the other people in the store. The
prophet and Lott began the match, but neither could best the other. In fact, Joseph
could only manage to bring the older man to his knees. After a few minutes the
prophet conceded to Lott, and received a fine ribbing from the onlookers about
being unable to throw "an old man." "In the midst of the jibes," young Joseph
recalled, "I heard the old man pipe out again, T told you, my boy, that you
couldn't throw old man Lott ! " ' ^
On occasion, the Saints on the south end of Nauvoo used the assembly room
for a school. From time to time, for instance, Joseph C. Cole and his daughter
Adelia conducted the Nauvoo Seminary there, teaching English, grammer, geog-
raphy, natural philosophy, reading, writing, chemistry, spelling, and astronomy.
Others, notably Eliza Roxey Snow, also held school for a time in the store. "^ Al-
though Nauvoo was a frontier community, the Saints ensured that their children
received an adequate education. The schools in the city were authorized and super-
vised by a board of regents and were held wherever space was available. Joseph
Smith III recollected that in late 1842 he began attending school in the assembly
room of his father's store, having moved from a house across the street. His boy-
hood memories included several unique instances while in this school. He remem-
bered:
We found it difficult to account for Mr. Cole's manner. Sometimes he
was a very strict disciplinarian and at other times was very lax; some-
times he was gay and indulgent and at other times was quite crass. At
such latter times his daughter would appear to have been crying. She
was such a favorite with us boys that this caused us considerable worry
and wonder. Later Smith learned that Cole had a drinking problem
"and that his frequent spells of sombemess and severity and his daugh-
ter's tearfulness were results of his overindulgence . "^
Joseph III also remembered that on one winter day Cole sent him and another
boy to the half-frozen Mississippi River with a pail to get water. Since several
accidents had occurred on the ice near the shore, Joseph's parents had forbidden
him from going near the water. Nevertheless, Smith and his friend followed the
teacher's instructions:
Had we taken the water back to the school directly after dipping it from
the hole in the ice it might have been construed that I had not broken
my father's command. But the ice was smooth, the opportunity attrac-
tive and so we two had a little sliding before we returned with the water
to the schoolhouse.
Center of Nauvoo Society 21
The prophet found out that his son had disobeyed his instructions and in spite of
his teacher's protests was severely punished. Joseph Smith III reflected that at the
time he had considered the punishment by his father "unnecessarily severe and
his judgment in the matter faulty," but later came to realize that the prophet held
his son's safety paramount and recognized his wisdom.^
The use of the store's assembly room day after day by this school soon proved
a nuisance for the other people trying to work there. Accordingly, on November
5, 1843, Joseph Smith gave Willard Richards permission to instruct Joseph Cole
to move the school elsewhere. After several requests that Cole ignored, on Feb-
ruary 10, 1844, the prophet went to the schoolteacher and ordered him to move
his classes to a room above the home of Henry W. Miller because as he said, "I
must for the future have that room for my own use."^ Cole then did as he had
been directed and withdrew the school from the Red Brick Store.
Another important community activity that took place in the assembly room
after 1842 were the meetings of the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge. This was the result
of several months of preparation and planning to institute this fraternal order in
the city. In the early summer of 1841 several Mormon Masons petitioned the Bod-
ley Lodge at Quincy, fifty miles south, to establish a lodge in Nauvoo. Although
initially refused on the ground that the petitioners had not demonstrated member-
ship in the order, on October 15, 1841 , Abraham Jonas, grand master of the Il-
linois lodge, granted permission to found a Nauvoo chapter. Almost immediately
the Masons in Nauvoo began to hold meetings wherever they could find adequate
quarters.^ Joseph Smith became a member of the order on March 15, 1842, in
a public ceremony in a grove near the site of the Temple. Later that evening in
a more private ritual in the assembly room over his store. Smith received the first
degree in Free Masonry. One of those officiating, Horace Cummings, reported
that to his surprise Smith seemed "to understand some of the features of the cere-
mony better than any Masons and that he made explanations that rendered rites
much more beautiful and full of meaning."'^ The next day Smith met with the
lodge and rose to the sublime degree of Freemasonry. '° The Mormon lodge grew
rapidly, and within six months had more members than all the other Illinois lodges
combined. This proliferation of membership, as well as the incorporation of cer-
tain segments of masonic lore into the Mormon Temple ceremonies and charges
that Smith was inducting women into the lodge, resulted in an investigation and
eventual revocation of the Nauvoo lodge's charter in October, 1 844. ' '
The last charge, that of initiating women into Freemasonry, was based on a
misconception about another group that used the assembly room over the store
on a regular basis. The Ladies Relief Society, organized on March 17, 1842, only
two days after the prophet's entrance into the Masonic order and a few weeks be-
fore his introduction of unique Temple ceremonies, was an important benevolent
organization that used the store for many of its meetings. The twenty women pre-
sent at the initial gathering of this group elected Emma Smith president, Sarah
M. Cleveland and Elizabeth Ann Whitney counselors, and Eliza Roxey Snow sec-
retary and treasurer. Joseph Smith told this organization that these women would
22 Joseph Smith. Jr.
preside over the society just as the First Presidency directed the church. He also
counseled the women to "provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the
wants of the poor, searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their
wants - to assist, by correcting the morals and strengthening the virtues of the
community." ''^ Immediately popular among the ladies of the community, the Re-
lief Society membership blossomed to over a thousand by September, 1842, by
which time there were too many members for the organization to meet in the store
and they began gathering in a grove near the Temple site. ' ^
According to the findings of recent researchers, Joseph Smith considered the
Relief Society much more than a humanitarian oganization. '"* At the meetings of
the organization, for instance, the women practiced certain religious sacraments.
For example, Emma Smith and her counselors performed the laying on of hands
for the healing of the sick, and at least one participant testified that she received
a great blessing "when administered to after the last meeting by Emma Smith and
[her] Counselors Cleveland and Whitney, she said she never realized more benefit
through an administration."''^ When questioned about the propriety of women
performing sacraments of the church, Joseph Smith responded: "there could be
no devil in it if God gave his sanction to the healing - that there could be no more
sin in any female laying hands on the sick than in wetting the face with water."
He spoke further to the women of the society in the assembly room on April 28,
1 842, about this matter, asking them "if they could not see by this sweeping stroke
wherein they are ordained, it is the privilege of those set apart to administer in
that authority which is conferred on them - and if the sisters should have faith
to heal the sick, let all hold their tongues." These women continued these prac-
tices throughout the remainder of the Nauvoo period . ' ^
While these affairs were conducted in the Red Brick Store, at least part of the
time the upper room was also available for public speeches and other perfor-
mances. For instance, on the evening of February 21, 1844, the Reverend De-
Woollf, an Episcopalian minister, lectured in the store's assembly room about his
beliefs and afterward Smith made a reply. '^ Joseph Smith III recalled also that
he had his young friends form a secret club, modeled after the Masonic lodge,
which held a talent show for the parents in the upper room of the store. Addition-
ally, an occasional debate, drama, and other public activities took place in the
Store. /
Joseph Smith also used his assembly room for all manner of political meetings,
both those involving party politics and those relating to local government. A nota-
ble example of partisan meetings took place in the assembly room on the evening
of February 8, 1844, when Joseph Smith, recently declared a candidate for the
United States presidency, addressed a small group of Nauvooans about his reasons
for his election bid. Apostle Wilford Woodruff recorded what Smith said:
Center of Nauvoo Society 23
I would not have suffered my name to have been used by my friends
on any wise as president of the United States or Candidate for that of-
fice if I & my friends could have had the privilege of enjoying our re-
ligious & civil rights as American Citizens even those rights which the
Constitution guarantees unto all her Citizens alike but this we as a
people have been denied from the beginning persecution had roled
upon our heads from time to time from portions of the United States
like peels of thunder because of our religion & no portion of the govern-
ment as yet had steped forward for our relief & under view of these
things 1 feel it to be my right & privilege to obtain what influence &
power I can lawfully in the United States for the protection of injured
innocence.""
A few months later. Smith addressed another political gathering in the assembly
room over his store, also advocating his candidacy for the presidency."' In addi-
tion to these meetings. Smith used the assembly room for local bureaucratic
gatherings. At times, for example, the city council met in the store. At other times,
as mayor of the city. Smith held sessions with other dignitaries and politicians
both within and without the city government. Indeed, until the death of Joseph
Smith the store was in almost constant use in some type of political activity.
While the upper rooms of the Red Brick Store served a variety of other pur-
poses, it was essentially the church's headquarters during the lifetime of the
prophet. Joseph Smith, as president of the church, held quorum meetings with
his counselors in the First Presidency - with Sidney Rigdon. who was in town
only intermittently after the completion of the store; with John C. Bennett, a man
on the make who was expelled from the church in mid- 1842 for charges ranging
from sexual misconduct to conspiring to murder the prophet; and with William
Law, a prosperous businessman and church official. William Law. especially,
was almost a daily visitor to the store, and he and Joseph Smith often conferred
on matters of church policy. More important than this, however, was Smith's
meetings with his brother. Hyrum. presiding patriarch of the church and close ad-
visor of the prophet . "~
Another important church body that met at the Red Brick Store informally with
Joseph Smith and collectively as a priesthood quorum was the Twelve Apostles.
This quorum had been organized in 1 835 as a select body of missionaries to carry
the Mormon religion to all nations on the earth. As a result of this commission,
the Twelve opened a foreign mission to the Biitish Isles in 1 837 and in other coun-
tries thereafter. But although the chief missionary arm of the church, by 1 842 the
Apostolic Quorum had evolved into a very important political body and enjoyed
much more authority among the Saints than had been at first intended. Presided
over by Brigham Young - as capable as any man in the movement - the Quorum
had emerged by 1842 as the principal administrative unit in the church after the
24 Joseph Smith, Jr.
First Presidency, and as such played an integral role in the direction of the move-
ment. Whenever the apostles were in Nauvoo, they were constant visitors to the
prophet's office in the Red Brick Store. At the time that Smith began operating
from the Red Brick Store, the Quorum included not only Brigham Young but also
Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Wil-
liam B. Smith, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard
Richards, and Lyman Wight. Throughout the Nauvoo period this quorum's pre-
stige and authority within the church steadily advanced until by the time of the
prophet's death it was in a position to offer a unified leadership to the movement.
At every opportunity Joseph met with the members of this quorum in his office
to discuss church affairs and to teach them theological principles. ""*
While these other church affairs should not be understated, perhaps the most
important of the church's bureaucratic functions to take place in the Red Brick
Store was under the province of the presiding bishopric, the management of the
Temple construction project. The Nauvoo Temple was the greatest of several im-
portant building programs in the city, and it required the dedication of the mem-
bership to finance and execute its construction. The management of this building
program was supervised by a Temple committee, consisting at first of Elias Hig-
bee, Reynolds Gaboon, and Alpheus Gutler, all important church members with
expertise in construction. But Joseph Smith, naturally, played a critical albeit in-
formal role in this management process. Later, after the death of Elias Higbee in
1 843, Joseph Smith appointed Hyrum Smith to the committee.'^'*
Providing the materials for construction and the provisions for the laborers
proved to be the primary problem of the Temple Gommittee. The body appointed
Willard Richards the Temple Recorder to handle this end of the project, and he
opened an office in the counting room on the first floor of the Red Brick Store
on December 13, 1841 . From this office Richards kept a tally of all money and
goods contributed and disbursed in the building project. ""^ By February 10, 1842,
this responsibility had grown so complex that Joseph Smith appointed William
Glayton, a young clerk who had recently immigrated from Great Britain, to serve
as Richards's assistant. On June 29, the press of other duties forced Richards to
relinquish informally to Glayton virtually all of the Temple recorder office man-
agement functions. Glayton apparently conducted these affairs adequately, for on
the evening on September 3, 1842, Smith called Glayton aside and told him, "I
want you to take care of the records and papers, and from this time I appoint you
Temple Recorder, and when I have any revelations to write you shall write
them."-^
Each of these men, in turn, kept the "Book of the Law of the Lord," an ac-
count of the transactions of the building committee for the Temple. Moreover,
Glayton was officially designated to prepare a history of the Nauvoo Temple; to
assist in the writing of Joseph Smith's history of the church; to record land transac-
tions; and to keep other account books. He was also charged with the collection
and recording of general tithes and offerings. ^^ Both Richards and Glayton, work-
ing from the Red Brick Store, directed a forceful campaign to gather donations
Center of Nauvoo Society 25
for the Temple. Beginning on June 18, 1842, and running periodically through
1845, they advertised in the secular newspaper, the Nauvoo Neighbor, for dona-
tions. "Meal, Flour, and Provisions of every kind wanted on tithing," read one
such advertisement. As interior work was getting underway in the building,
another advertisement read: "Notice - About 6 or 8 thousand good lath wanted
immediately. The amount shall be credited on tithing. William Clayton, Record-
er. ""** Clayton and Richards apparently made use of very neariy every commodity
donated to the church. The Saints noted that the Red Brick Store served as a place
to gather such goods. The Temple recorder's office then collected, according to
an 1880 history of the county, "almost every conceivable thing, from all kinds
of implements and men's and women's clothing, down to baby clothes and trin-
kets, which had been deposited by the owners as tithing, or for the benefit of the
Temple. """^
This complicated system naturally created difficulties, and the Red Brick
Store was the scene of several disagreements over management of Temple re-
sources. The value of goods was always in question and, since there was no public
accounting by the Temple Committee, rumors of mismanagement circulated
freely. As an example, on October 1 , 1842, Joseph Smith became involved in this
question:
Some reports had been circulated that the committee was not making
a righteous disposition of property consecrated for the building of the
Temple, and there appeared to be some dissatisfaction amongst the
laborers. After carefully examining the accounts and inquiring into the
manner of the proceedings of the committee. I expressed myself per-
fectly satisfied with them and their works. The books were balanced
between the trustee and the committee, and the wages all agreed
upon.^o
Such allegations continued thereafter, however, and in Novenber of 1842, the
Temple stonecutters complained of unequal distribution of provisions. Among
other charges, they complained that the Temple Committee gave more iron and
steel tools to Reynolds Cahoon's sons than to others, that they had not given the
full due in lumber to Dimick Huntington, and that they had let a contract for "the
first course of stone around the temple to the man who would do it for the least
price, etc."^' It was only because of the prestige and authority of Joseph Smith
that the committee was able to function during these complaints, for the prophet
was able to soothe the difficulties.
The Temple Committee operating out of the Red Brick Store, therefore, was
a critical element of the Nauvoo lifestyle. Its activities were generally successful,
for by the time of Smith's death in June, 1 844, the building's walls had been raised
as high as the second story and its construction was progressing quickly. Because
of the difficulties between the Smith family and the church leadership in 1844,
however, the Temple recorder's office had to be moved to other quarters following
26 Joseph Smith, Jr.
the prophet's death, but even so its work continued much as before. By late Janu-
ary of 1846 it had all but been completed, and the Twelve began practicing the
unique ordinances taught by the prophet there. Ironically, these practices began
almost at the same time that the majority of the membership in Nauvoo was begin-
ning to leave the city in the soon-to-become famous Mormon trek westward to
Utah. As a result, they were unable to enjoy the use of the building long.-^-
Certainly the most important use of the Red Brick Store arose when Joseph
Smith began to use it as a base of operations for teaching unique religious concep-
tions. He described his religious work on the upper floor of the store, in a January
5, 1842, letter to Edward Hunter. He wrote:
In front of the stairs opens the door to my private office, or where I
keep the sacred writings, with a window to the south. Overlooking the
river below, and the opposite shore for a great distance, which, to-
gether with a passage of boats in the seasons thereof, constitutes a
peculiarly interesting situation, in prospect, and no less interesting
from its retirement from the bustle and confusion of the neighborhood
and city, and altogether a place where the Lord is pleased to bless.''''
In the two south rooms Joseph kept his offices, one of which was a place where
he "received revelations and translated ancient records. "^"^
From the origins of the Mormon movement, the church relied heavily upon
"divine instruction" through Joseph Smith. During the time that the church was
headquartered in Nauvoo, Joseph Smith dictated nine documents that the Mor-
mons accepted as revelation from God. Two were given at Ramus, Illinois, a few
miles outside Nauvoo; one was proclaimed in the home of Brigham Young, presi-
dent of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles; and three were given before the Red Brick
Store was built. But the remaining three were most likely written in the prophet's
office in the upper tloor of the building. ^"^
Perhaps no issue in Mormon theology has been more volatile than plural mar-
riage. During the 1840s, the Latter Day Saint movement split over the issue fol-
lowing the death of Joseph Smith. Those who followed Brigham Young to Utah,
as well as other sects arising out of the church, embraced the doctrine. On the
other hand, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, coalesc-
ing around the son of the prophet during mid-century, rejected the practice and
denied that it had been a tenet of the faith in Nauvoo during Smith's lifetime.
Joseph Smith III asserted that he could never believe that his father had been guilty
of such a practice, but that if he was he had been wrong and would be called to
account for his sins.-^^
Whether Smith was involved or not, and the question is moot at this time, all
people interested in Mormon history recognize that the recording of the purported
revelation on eternal and plural marriage holds critical importance. Its expression
Center of Ncnivoo Society 27
by the various Mormon groups throughout the latter half of the nineteenth centur>'
was undoubtedly the driving force in the religion. The genesis of plural marriage,
according to commonly held beliefs, came on July 12. 1843, when Smith dictated
at the Red Brick Store a supposed revelation on the subject. ^^ According to Wil-
liam Clayton, Joseph and Hyrum Smith called him into the "small office upstairs
in the rear of [the] store" and Joseph dictated the document. ^^ Clayton recorded
the event in his personal diary:
This A.M. 1 wrote a Revelation consisting of 10 pages on the order
of the priesthood, showing the designs in Moses, Abraham, David and
Soloman having many wives and concubines &c. After it was wrote
Prests, Joseph & Hyrum presented it and read it to E[mma] who said
she did not believe a word of it and appeared very rebellious.'''^
Clayton later explained that Hyrum returned to the store totally dumfounded by
Emma's lack of acceptance."*'* When discussing the incident with his brother,
Joseph Smith reportedly said, "I told you you did not know Emma as well as I
did.""*' Later, after copies had been made, Joseph supposedly allowed his wife
to burn the original copy, hoping that it would soothe her anger. Throughout her
life, Emma Smith denied all knowledge of her husband's teaching of plural mar-
riage. Nonetheless, the group of Mormons led to Utah by Brigham Young ac-
cepted the doctrine and plural marriage became the most notable source of conten-
tion between the Mormons and other people in the nation during the remainder
of the nineteenth century. Because of pressures from the federal government in
1 890, the Mormon church officially abandoned the practice."*"
A second important religious document produced in the Red Brick Store, this
time a supposed translation of some ancient Egyptian papyri, was published in
early 1842 as the Book of Abraham . Joseph Smith had become involved in this
project on July 1, 1835, when Michael H. Chandler visited the church's strong-
hold at Kirtland, Ohio, bearing four Egyptian mummies and assorted papyri.
Chandler had obtained these mummies from the estate of his uncle, Antonio
Lebolo, who had died in Trieste in 1832. The Saints at Kirtland were intrigued
by the ancient records associated with the mummies, asking Joseph - who had
a reputation after the publication of the Book of Mormon as being one with the
ability to decipher such documents - to translate. Several church members pur-
chased the mummies and papyri and delivered them to Smith for the translation
process. Apparently, the prophet went immediately to work on these documents,
for he announced within a short time that one of the papyri contained a sacred
accountof Abraham's exile in Egypt. "*"*
Over the next several years Smith worked toward completion of a translation
of this papyri, compiling an "Egyptian Alphabet and Crammer" to aid in the pro-
cess. The Saints apparently expected that this work would be fully as important
a scriptural record as the Book of Mormon.'^ After years of working intermittently
on this project between 1835 and 1841, apparently progressing no further than
28 Joseph Smith, Jr.
the second chapter of the book, Joseph returned to the task during the first months
of 1842. During January and February, Smith secluded himself in his private of-
fice in the Red Brick Store and prepared the manuscript, and beginning with the
March 1, 1842, issue of the Times and Seasons the record appeared serially in
its entirety. '^^ This book was eventually canonized by the Utah branch of the Latter
Day Saint movement and has been used as scripture by that group ever after. "^^
The exact relationship between the ancient papyri and the Book of Abraham
produced by Joseph Smith has been questioned in recent years because of the dis-
covery and retranslation of papyri using modem knowledge of Egyptian. The
modem translations make it clear that the prophet did not provide a literal account
of the text of the papyri and Mormon scholars have suggested that the scrolls them-
selves may simply have been the catalyst that turned Smith's mind back to ancient
Egypt and opened it to revelation about Abraham's experience there. Nonetheless,
the Book of Abraham contained important doctrinal statements that were incorpo-
rated into the Mormon religion as practiced by the followers of Brigham Young.
Notable among these was the concept of the plurality of gods and a hierarchy of
deities that "organized" rather than "created" the universe. The curse of Cain
was also expounded and became one of the intellectual underpinnings of the Utah
Mormon denial of priesthood to blacks."*^
More than simply a place where Joseph produced religious writings, the upper
floor of the Red Brick Store was a location where he held meetings and taught
his followers his doctrinal conceptions. The most important of these were the tem-
ple rituals that he began to teach to a select gathering of associates early in 1842.
On May 3, 1842, Joseph Smith prepared the assembly room of his store for the
introduction of secret temple ceremonies. These religious ordinances. Smith be-
lieved, were a restoration of the celestial law of God to the earth. Five or six men
aided Smith in preparing the room for this ritual. Lucius N. Scovill, one of these
men, recalled that the prophet explained "that the object he had was for us to go
to work and fit up the room preparatory to giving endowments to a few Elders.'"*^
James Henry Rollins, another who assisted in preparing the assembly room, re-
membered "carrying water and other commodities to the room above the store.
Afterwards I found out it was to give endowments to some of the Brethren.'"**^
The men apparently prepared the room by painting a mural of a pastoral scene
in the northwest comer and by arranging several sprigs of cassis, olive branches,
cedar boughs, and other evergreens about the room. This pastoral setting paral-
leled the Garden Room in later Mormon temples and was probably the model for
such later buildings. ^°
With all the preparation, the upper rooms of the store were ill-suited to the
conducting of temple rituals. It was, however, the most adequate location in
Nauvoo before the completion of the Temple. The prophet believed that the cere-
monies could only be conducted in an upper room, and the assembly room of the
Red Brick Store was the only place of adequate size in Nauvoo during 1 842 and
1843 where people could assemble with relative privacy.^' Brigham Young, for
example, noted that in spite of the limitations of the store, Joseph Smith divided
Center of Nauvoo Society 29
"up the room the best he could." He added that when finished it "was arranged
representing the interior of a temple as much as the circumstances would per-
mit."52
After the preparation had been completed, on May 4, 1842, Joseph called to-
gether several church leaders and initiated them into the new religious ordinances,
commanding them to conduct these in the Temple once it was completed. The
prophet's history noted that:
I spent the day in [the assembly room above the store in] council with
General James Adams of Springfield, Patriarch Hyrum Smith, Bishops
Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, and President Brigham Young,
and Elders Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, instructing them
in the principles and order of the Priesthood, and so on to the highest
order of the Melchezidek Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining
to the Ancient of Days and all those plans and principles by which any-
one is enabled to secure the fullness of those blessings which have been
prepared for the Church of the First Bom, and came up and which in
the presence of Elohim in the eternal worlds. In this council was insti-
tuted the ancient order of things for the first time in these last days.
And the communications I made to this council were of things spiritual
and to be received only by the spiritual minded; and there is nothing
made known to these men but what will be made known to all the Saints
of the last days, as soon as they were prepared to receive, and a proper
place is prepared to communicate them, even to the weakest of Saints;
therefore let the Saints be diligent in building the Temple . . . knowing
assuredly that all these things ... are always governed by the principles
of revelation.''^
Not long thereafter, Heber C. Kimball wrote to a colleague in the Quorum of
Twelve, Parley P. Pratt, about this event. "We have received some pressious
things through the Prophet on the preasthood that would caus you Soul to rejoice
I can not give them to you on paper for they are not to be riten."'^'* The rituals
conducted in the Red Brick Store's assembly room involved symbolic washings,
anointings, and special signs and symbols that evolved into the temple endow-
ments as practiced in Utah a few years later. Members were initiated into the select
group of participants through washing and anointing. At the group's weekly meet-
ings these individuals wore special temple robes and practiced special endowment
rituals. An important part of this, after September 28, 1843, when women were
first allowed participation in these activities, involved special prayer circles.^'*
By 1843 many Saints in Nauvoo had learned of the rituals being enacted in
the upper room of the Red Brick Store, although no official announcements about
the practice had been made. William Clayton, personal secretary of the prophet,
felt deprived of religious blessings when he learned that these meetings had been
going on and he had not been invited to participate. He went so far as to ask the
prophet for permission to join the select group and he was given entrance soon
thereafter, for on February 3, 1844, he received his initial washings and anoint-
30
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Center of Nauvoo Society 31
ings. He described his feelings afterwards:
This is one of the greatest favors ever conferred on me and for which
I feel grateful. May the God of Joseph preserve me & mine house to
walk in the paths of righteousness all the days of my life & oh that I
may never sin against him or displease him For thou oh God knowest
my desire to do right that I may have eternal life/''"''
Ebenezer Robinson never attended a meeting of this group but became acquainted
with its activities. He tried to find out what the members did in the assembly room
and asked one of the participants but was told, "I could tell you many things, but
if I should, my life would pay the forfeiture." On another occasion, Robinson
saw John Taylor, one of the Twelve Apostles and managing editor of the Times
and Seasons, standing in the door of the assembly room at the top of the stairway
wearing a turban and a white robe, with a sword in his hand. Robinson concluded
that he represented "the 'cherubims and flaming sword which was placed at the
east of the Garden of Eden, to guard the tree of life. '"^^
Between the introduction of these temple ceremonies in the Red Brick Store's
assembly room of May 4, 1842, and Joseph and Hyrum Smith's deaths on June
27, 1844, more than sixty men and women were taught the rituals.''^ After the
death of the prophet about fifteen additional people received endowments from
the Twelve Apostles, but during this time the prophet's widow restricted the use
of the store's upper room, and those involved in the rites had to find other accom-
modations.''^
While these religious teachings first practiced in the Red Brick Store changed
the doctrinal outlook of some of the movement's membership, one towering inci-
dent occurred there that has only recently achieved prominence. This event was,
of course, the blessing of Joseph Smith III by his father as his successor to the
prophetic office. On Wednesday, January 17, 1844, Joseph Smith called several
church leaders to the assembly room in the store for a special meeting. Most of
the Twelve Apostles were away on missions, but the local leaders and other gen-
eral authorities in the city were asked to attend. Among those present were Joseph
and Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, Willard Richards, Newel K. Whitney, Reynolds
Cahoon, Alpheus Cutler, Ebenezer Robinson, George J. Adams, W.W. Phelps,
and John M. Bemhisel, all important individuals in the church's complex hierar-
chy. The prophet seated his son in a chair in the assembly room, and Newel K.
Whitney anointed his head with oil in a solemn assembly. Then Joseph Smith pro-
nounced a special blessing on him. The recently discovered text of this blessing
was recorded by Thomas Bullock , a clerk in the store . It read:
Blessed of the Lord is my son Joseph, who is called the third, -
for the Lord knows the integrity of his heart, and loves him, because
of his faith, and righteous desires. And, for this cause, has the Lord
raised him up; - that the promises made to the fathers might be fulfill-
32 Joseph Smith, Jr.
ed, even that the anointing of the progenitor shall be upon the head of
the son, and his seed after him, from generation to generation. For he
shall be my successor to the Presidency of the High Priesthood: a Seer,
and a Revelator, and a Prophet, unto the Church; which appointment
belongeth to him by blessing, and also by right.
Verily, thus saith the Lord; if he abides in me his days shall be
lengthened upon the earth, but, if he abides not in me, I, the Lord, will
receive him in an instant, unto myself.
When he is grown, he shall be a strength to his brethren, and a com-
fort to his mother. Angels shall minister unto him, and he will be
wafted as on eagle's wings, and be as wise as serpents, even a multi-
plicity of blessings shall be his.
Amen.''''
Apparently, the next Sunday, January 21 , 1844, Joseph Smith gave a public ad-
dress on "sealing the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the
children to the fathers," and made an offhand reference to this blessing. ^^ Clearly,
Smith intended that his son would succeed him in becoming president of the
church. Later, on April 6, 1860, Joseph Smith III accepted the position that his
father had foreordained, becoming president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints .
Certainly, the Red Brick Store served Nauvoo as much more than a place in
which to shop and purchase commodities. It was a location for social activities,
both those formally sponsored and those that arose as people gathered in the store
for gossip and interaction. It was a place where portions of the city's populace
met for civic, fraternal, and cultural affairs. Most important, however, it was the
location where Smith developed and taught his peculiarly frontier American doc-
trinal ideas.
3
From Decline to Destruction, 1844-1890
After the murder of Joseph Smith by a mob on June 27, 1844, the Red Brick
Store quickly declined in importance. During the next forty-six years the store
served the community in various capacities, but it was never again the center of
the community the way it had been during the heyday of Mormon Nauvoo. It re-
mained the property of the Smith family throughout this period, and they tried
to operate a store there during the latter 1840s, but this proved unsuccessful.
Thereafter, it seems to have been closed down for a while prior to 1860, when
its upper rooms began to be used as a chapel by the Nauvoo branch of the Reor-
ganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an organization which Joseph
Smith III headed. Sometime during the 1870s, the Red Brick Store, apparently,
was all but abandoned and by the mid- 1880s had been vandalized and boarded
up. In 1890, the Smith family sold the building to local businessmen who had it
razed and used it to build other structures in the town .
Early on the morning of June 28, 1 844, the news reached Nauvoo that a mob
of over 100 men had stormed the jail at Carthage, about twenty miles from
Nauvoo, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been incarcerated for charges rang-
ing from riot to treason, and had murdered the brothers late the previous afternoon.
Orrin Porter Rockwell, the prophet's close friend and chief bodyguard, announced
the tragic news as he galloped through the city on his mare. Anson Call reported
hearing Rockwell yell, "Joseph is killed -they have killed him! Goddamn them!
They have killed him!"' During the course of the day details of the murders came
out. The lynchings had been committed by a band of carefully organized con-
spirators who had taken advantage of a lack of sufficient guards at the jail, over-
powering them and assassinating the Mormon leaders. "^
Apparently, not long after this Emma Smith ceased operations in the Red
Brick Store. On October 18, 1844, she wrote to Joseph L. Heywood, a friend,
offering the store for rent. "The Brick Store will be empty next week," Emma
wrote, "and I would like well if you could find it advantageous to your interest
to fill it with goods and groceries this fall, the rent will be low. I think it a good
time to commence an establishment of that kind now as there is a number of the
merchants about to leave here soon. "-^
Whether or not Heywood accepted Emma Smith's offer is unknown, but it
appears that the store was almost certainly closed by the fall of 1846 when the
Smith family went to Fulton, about 100 miles from Nauvoo, while lawlessness
reigned in the city following the Mormon exodus. The store was probably not
34 Joseph Smith. Jr.
reopened until the summer of 1848. The circumstances surrounding the store's
reopening have been recalled by Joseph Smith III. by this time fifteen years old.
In late 1847, Emma Smith, the prophet's widow, had remarried to Lewis Crum
Bidamon. Every evidence points to the couple's pleasant marriage, and while
young Joseph III revered his dead father, he certainly respected his new stepfather.
He recorded his impressions in his memoirs:
He was a man of strong likes and dislikes, passionate, easily moved
to anger, but withal ordinarily affable in manner, decidedly hospitable,
and generous indisposition. He made friends easily, but, unfortunately
for him, lost them quite as easily. His love for intoxicating liquors and
his lack of religious convictions were the two most serious drawbacks
to the happiness of our home, and tended to color materially the after-
events of our lives. "^
While young Smith may not have fully approved of his stepfather's habits when
compared to his perception of his natural father, the two developed an amiable
rapport if not a genuine affection over the years.''
Major Bidamon. known to all by his rank in the Illinois State Militia, was de-
termined to see that his stepchildren were given a fair start in business careers.
As a result, Bidamon was directly responsible for Joseph Smith Ill's first halting
entrance into the business world at the Red Brick Store in 1 848. When he married
Emma Smith. Bidamon was the partner of a Mr. Hartwell in a dr\'goods business
in Nauvoo. They subsequently dissolved this partnership, but Bidamon used his
influence to get young Joseph III a job as clerk in Hartwell's store. Smith, by this
time a teenager of average height, striking dark eyes, an unruly mass of dark hair,
and the beginnings of a scraggly beard, began clerking for Hartwell in early 1848.
and remained there learning the trade until the summer.^
After Joseph had mastered the art of storekeeping sufficiently to operate with-
out supervision, the major proposed that he and Emma reopen the Red Brick Store
with young Smith as manager. The parents each invested $1 .000. renovated the
store, bought a fresh supply of stock, and established Joseph as the proprietor.
Bidamon thought at the time that it would be a fine contribution to the youth's
start in the business world, but, unfortunately, the venture failed. Crucial to its
success was Smith's ability to enter the grain trade on the Mississippi, and al-
though Joseph was involved in the local grain trade, acting as an agent for a few
St. Louis brokers, he was unable to break into the market in any significant way
because of a cartel that controlled the majority of the trade on the river around
Nauvoo.^ A second difficulty that made the store unprofitable was the exodus of
the majority of the Mormons. The main business district of Nauvoo had moved
away from the limestone flat, where the Red Brick Store stood, onto the bluffs
overlooking the river where the majority of the non-Mormons had lived. Hence,
the store only attracted those persons who were looking for goods more cheaply
than could be had elsewhere. When these bargain-hunters appeared. Joseph was
From Decline to Destruction. 1H44-1890 35
unwilling to dicker over the price. While Bidamon did not hesitate to mark down
a commodity to move it off the shelf, Joseph would insist upon receiving the origi-
nal price. Soon Joseph had few customers and simply could not compete effec-
tively. It took Joseph and his supporters several months to learn that the Red Brick
Store would not be profitable. When Joseph finally closed its doors in 1849, he
did so sadly but with the determination to move into business in other areas. ^
One important event took place while Joseph Smith III was operating the Red
Brick Store. On the night of October 8-9. 1848, an arsonist set fire to the Nauvoo
Temple. Joseph III remembered that he was sleeping in the upper room of the
store, trying to protect the building from burglers, when he awoke to the sounds
of fire bells and confused voices on the street below. He staggered out of bed and
ran to the north window, where he saw a colossal fire on the cliffs above the
Nauvoo flats. Smith opened the store's window and called to John Mason, a
neighbor whom he saw running toward the fire, asking what had happened. Mason
told him that the Temple was burning and that the townspeople were assembling
bucket brigades to fight the fire. Smith dressed and ran to his mother's home, only
to find that his stepfather was already on the hill organizing bucket brigades. Since
the Smith property would be easy prey for thieves or arsonists during the fire,
Joseph decided that under the circumstances it was better for him to stay in the
area, just in case the fire had been set as a diversion. The firefighters worked
throughout the night, and although they prevented the fire from spreading to other
buildings in the main business section, the Temple was all but destroyed."^ The
most impressive symbol of the Mormonism that had made Nauvoo an important
city was destroyed by an arsonist, Joseph Agnew.
Evidence concerning the use of the Red Brick Store between 1848 and 1860
is scarce. Perhaps it was rented by the Smith family as either a store or a home
when someone could be found who would maintain it properly. Most likely, how-
ever, Emma and her husband closed the building during the majority of these
years.
On April 6, 1860, Joseph Smith III accepted a call to assume the presidency
of the second largest branch of Mormonism, the Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints. Afterwards he returned to Nauvoo, continuing his sec-
ular affairs during the week and on Sundays holding religious services for any who
would listen. During the remainder of 1860, Smith worked to raise a following
in the area, criss-crossing Hancock County to visit with the old Saints who had
remained. Joseph held many of his first church services in the two-story block-
house, known as the "Homestead," his family had inhabited upon first moving
to Nauvoo in 1839, then in a brick home once owned by Nauvoo Stake President
William Marks. '" Finally, by the fall of 1 860 the tiny group of Latter Day Saints
had become large enough to require a true meeting hall, whereupon Smith fixed
up the upper room of the Red Brick Store. By 1864. Smith's "Olive Branch."
as the members affectionately called the Nauvoo church, had a membership of
seventy-five and was growing steadily. ' '
36
Joseph Smith, Jr.
From Decline to Destruction, 1 844- 1 890
37
^
■s ^
I 2
^S
38 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Without question, many of the members of this group meeting in the Red Brick
Store were present because of the attraction of having the Reorganized Church's
president in their midst rather than because of a devotion to the religion. In 1865,
Joseph Smith III made plans to move from Nauvoo to Piano, Illinois, to take up
duties in what was essentially the church's headquarters. By January, 1866, he
had removed his family, and immediately thereafter attendence at the services in
the Red Brick Store dwindled. Joseph's mother remarked just a few months later
that the branch's "meetings are rather poorly attended. We have some members
that are not much account. The outsiders have left off attending. . . . They miss
my boys."' "^ By 1880, this branch had virtually ceased to exist, and the Red Brick
Store was no longer needed for its activities. ' ^
While the Red Brick Store was certainly occupied as a church until the 1 870s,
evidence indicates that at least by the 1880s it had fallen into disuse. Physical evi-
dence found during the archaeological excavation suggested that it was used as
a haybarn, a common fate for abandoned buildings in a rural setting. Certainly
by 1885 its windows had been boarded over.''* Clearly the store had outlived its
usefulness.
By 1890, the Smith family, still in possession of the Red Brick Store, had no
further use for the building and sold the materials used to build the store. The
Nauvoo Independent of July 4, 1890, carried the following notice: "Hudson
brothers [owners of a local butcher shop] bought the old Mormon store on the river
bank west of the Mansion House of Joseph Smith. They purchased it for the bricks
that are in it and will tear it down." Another item in the same newspaper for Au-
gust 8, 1890, noted: "The Mormon Church on the river bank west of the Mansion
House recently purchased by the Hudson brothers is being torn down. One by one
the old landmarks go."'^ Curiously, the use of the term "Mormon Church" in
referring to the Red Brick Store in 1 890 undoubtedly meant that Nauvooans re-
membered best the years that the store was being used by Joseph Smith Ill's Olive
Branch as a church.
Apparently, the Hudson Brothers used the brick from the store to build other
structures in Nauvoo. Certainly, they constructed a fine new meat market on
Mulholland Street in the main business district with some of the brick. Later, this
building was incorporated into part of the Nauvoo Hotel. Thereafter, the founda-
tion of the Red Brick Store was all that remained. It was used as a trash dumping
pit until the 1 930s. '^
The years between 1844 and the building's destruction in 1890 were ones of
intermittent use and abandonment. Gradually, the forces of time wore upon the
building, and it was no longer habitable. When this became the case, the Smith
From Decline to Destruction, 1844-1890 39
family disposed of the property and the Red Brick Store was razed, its basement
and foundation used as a trash dump for several decades. Later, however, the store
would be resurrected by the Reorganized Church as a reconstructed historic site.
4
Store Reconstruction
From 1890, when the Hudson Brothers had Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store
demolished to provide bricks for their meat market on MulhoUand Street, until
1979, when the reconstruction of the store was dedicated, the site remained essen-
tially a large hole in the ground. Then, in the latter 1970s, the Joseph Smith His-
toric Center, an historic site operated in Nauvoo by the Reorganized Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, undertook a reconstruction of the store. By
1980, the building was open to the public, a major step toward bringing to life
the economic, political, and religious experiences of Mormon Nauvoo for the
thousands of visitors to the town every year.
When most of the Mormon citizens of Nauvoo walked down Parley Street to
begin the great trek to Utah in early 1846, Nauvoo became two towns. The part
located on the cliffs overlooking the Mississippi River was the so-called "Gen-
tile" settlement, while the old Mormon community was ensconced on the flat.
Throughout the years since the departure of the Mormons, Nauvoo has remained
essentially two towns both in geography and attitude. The Hill, where the busines-
ses and restaurants are located, has undergone the basic physical changes that are
normal as each generation makes it own mark by replacing old buildings with new
ones. By contrast, the Flat has remained largely devoid of any new major con-
struction not related to historic site restoration .
Although the largest body of the Latter Day Saints moved westward under
Brigham Young in 1846, an important dissenting element remained in Nauvoo,
the widow and children of Joseph Smith. Emma Smith clashed with Young over
the theological, secular, and administrative direction of the church between the
time of her husband's death and the exodus, and because of these differences re-
fused to travel to Utah. ' Instead, she remained in Nauvoo, remarried, and raised
her children outside of Mormonism's influence. In time, the family united with
the Reorganized Church, a more moderate form of the religion. On April 6, 1860,
Emma's oldest son, Joseph Smith III, assumed the presidency of this organization;
during a 54-year career he guided it from the standing of an insignificant sect to
that of a viable denomination . ~
Both the Reorganized Church, and the larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, have important theological and organi-
zational roots in Nauvoo. Both have been interested in Nauvoo as a means of inter-
preting favorably their own religious history to the world. Both also look upon
historic site restoration as a method of interpreting their peculiar stories.
42 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Frederick Madison Smith, grandson of Joseph Smith, and president of the
Reorganization between 1914 and 1946, was the first general authority within the
movement to identify the possibilities inherent in an historic site program. Ac-
cordingly, he arranged for the transfer of some twenty acres of historically signifi-
cant property in Nauvoo - property that included the two homes of Joseph Smith,
the block house known as the "Homestead" and the impressive two-story frame
structure known as the "Nauvoo Mansion"; the Nauvoo House, originally in-
tended as a hotel where people would stay while visiting the city; the Smith family
cemetery, and the site of the Red Brick Store - to the presiding bishop of the Reor-
ganized Church. The presiding bishop, as the chief financial officer for the organi-
zation, was charged with the task of maintaining the physical property.^ While
the bishop carried out the maintenance of these properties, little was done to inter-
pret them until after World War II. During the late 1940s and 1950s the Nauvoo
Mansion and Homestead were open to the public, but the professional quality of
the interpretive program was primitive. At best, the Smith property in Nauvoo
was interpreted by believers as a religious shrine, an approach that neglected the
significance of the experience of the Saints at Nauvoo for American history and
religious development. Later, during the 1960s, this interpretation began to
change in response to some important activities of others interested in Nauvoo his-
tory.
In 1962, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized a not-for-
profit corporation, Nauvoo Restoration, to restore and interpret Mormon buildings
in the city for visitors. J. Leroy Kimball, M.D., the driving force behind the crea-
tion of Nauvoo Restoration, conceived of a major program that would challenge
colonial Williamsburg in size, scope, and value as an historic program. The corpo-
ration purchased about 2,000 acres in the city; brought in an outstanding collection
of historians, archaeologists, restoration specialists, curators, interpretors, and
craftsmen; and began the work of recreating Mormon Nauvoo. The restoration
of Heber C. Kimball's home began this effort in the early part of the 1 950s, work
undertaken by Dr. Kimball privately because the building held personal signifi-
cance-Heber Kimball was one of his ancestors. By the end of 1894, Nauvoo Re-
storation had completed more than twenty restorations, had built an impressive
visitors' center, and had developed effective interpretive programs for its facili-
ties.^
Although the Reorganized Church lacked an individual with the vision and
drive of J. Leroy Kimball and possessed neither the zeal nor the financial resources
to proclaim their story, the church did struggle throughout the 1960s and 1970s
to create authentic restorations and to build a viable interpretive program. Kenneth
E. Stobaugh, a member of the Quorum of Seventy, a priesthood office in the
church oriented toward missionary activity, became the director of the Joseph
Smith Historic Center in 1959 and brought to the center a degree of profes-
Store Reconstruction 43
sionalism it had not experienced before. He and a longtime associate. Dr. F. Mark
McKiernan, instituted several innovative programs to accelerate the quality of the
center's historic site program. The Reorganized Church sponsored in 1970 the
first annual summer archaeological excavation by the Field School of the Univer-
sity of Missouri-Columbia on the Smith property, and in 1 973 instituted a summer
internship program for the training of future museum professionals.-^
These activities, along with those conducted by Nauvoo Restoration, fostered
the development of apian for further expansion for the Joseph Smith Historic Cen-
ter. A major aspect of this expansion was the reconstruction of the Red Brick
Store. ^ During the years since its demolition, the basement of the store, with its
limestone ribs, half falling walls, and stairwell, had been famous in Nauvoo,
though not for its historic significance. At night, the area was used by local nec-
kers who lacked cars to take them to more distant places of seclusion. Little of
note happened at the ruin during the day with the exception of an occasional tourist
falling into it. ^
Although some had talked previously about the possibility of reconstructing
the Red Brick Store, it was not until 1969 that such an activity was given any seri-
ous consideration. In that year, F. Mark McKiernan found a listing in the card
catalog at the University of Iowa describing the microfilm of the "Day Book of
Joseph Smith, Jr., 1842-1844, of Nauvoo, Illinois." The original of this manu-
script was located in the Masonic Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. McKiernan be-
lieved at the time that he had found an unknown Joseph Smith journal for the last
two years of the Mormon prophet's life, but upon reviewing the microfilm, disco-
vered it contained the financial accounts of the Red Brick Store. Kenneth E.
Stobaugh, director of the Joseph Smith Historic Center, was pleased to learn of
the existence of this daybook, in part because he knew of its importance if the
church ever decided to rebuild the Red Brick Store.
As an aid for the reconstruction of the store, the daybook was invaluable. First,
it contained a complete inventory of the store during its most historic period. One
could tell exactly what Joseph Smith and others sold from it. The ledger verified
that the store handled certain uniquely Mormon merchandise, for example. Books
of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Emma Smith's hymnal. Second, the
daybook also demonstrated the importance of the store as a business center in
Nauvoo, detailing important land transactions and business agreements. Third,
much about the religious society of Nauvoo was described in the daybook with
its accounts of transactions concerning the Nauvoo House and Nauvoo Temple,
the loaning of funds to destitute Saints, the sales made to church leaders, and the
credit or barter systems in operation. Finally, the daybook gave the names of the
customers, their purchases, and the dates of sales. ^
Another major step toward the eventual reconstruction of the Red Brick Store
came in 1 972 when the University of Missouri-Columbia brought its summer field
school to the Joseph Smith Historic Center for an archaeological excavation of
the store's ruins, the third summer this organization had excavated historic ruins
at the center. In 1970, the field school excavated the site of the Joseph Smith stable
44 Joseph Smith, Jr.
and in 1971 it searched the Joseph Smith homestead property for historic founda-
tions and artifacts.^
The leader of this excavation, Professor Robert T. Bray, brought with him a
field supervisor and six students. Augmented by summer guides from the Joseph
Smith Historic Center and volunteers, this team systematically removed and
analyzed soil and artifacts. The foundation of the store measured 41.1 feet north
and south; its width was 23. 1 feet east and west. The excavation confirmed histori-
cal information about the store's size, and yielded valuable information about its
room measurements, placement of shelves, colors used in the building, brick size
and type. Ultimately, the information presented by the excavation team confirmed
and added to the historical description given by Joseph Smith of the interior of
his store when he wrote to Edward Hunter on January 5, 1 842. '"
At the same time. Bray and McKiernan, the latter working as research histo-
rian for the archaeological project, analyzed important visual documentation of
the store's exterior. The Joseph Smith Historic Center possesed in its collection
a photograph, taken circa 1890, that showed the store front and west side. This
illustration answered several important questions. The picture was clear enough
to count the brick, giving researchers accurate data about the building's size and
form. It also depicted clearly the front windows and the stone work of the building,
allowing researchers to determine the size and type of all materials. Bray also
noticed that some of the brick had a dark stain running diagonally from a chimney
to the lintels of the two westernmost windows. ' ' This indicated a flue and deter-
mined the heating system of the building, iron stoves located in the middle of the
floor with an overhead pipe extending to the wall .
Stobaugh found a second photograph of the store dating about the same time.
This photograph showed the store front and its east side. Together, these pictures
indicated that there were no windows on the sides of the store; the sides were used
for shelves to store merchandise. This photograph also showed a second chimney
on the roof near the river. With these two pictures, researchers had evidence of
what three sides of the building looked like, but no one could find any pictorial
representations of the back of the store. Archaeological excavations revealed that
there had been a back door to the store, as well as one to the basement, but the
question of size and appearance of these and windows remained. Joseph Smith
had remarked that the view of the river from the window of his upstairs office
was beautiful, but how many windows were there and where were they located?
The investigators were stumped until they found a riverside view of the Red
Brick Store in a painting by David H. Smith. David, the youngest son of the
prophet, actually born five months after his father's death, was a sensitive indi-
vidual who early cultivated poetic and artistic talents. Later, he became one of
the leaders of the Reorganization, beloved for his charm and manner. His painting
entitled "Bend in the River," painted in 1868, showed the top floor of the river
side of the Red Brick Store in the distance. It depicted three regularly spaced iden-
tical windows that matched those of the store's front. ' ^
With the completion of the archaeological excavation and the concurrent his-
Store Reconstruction 45
torical research, a great deal of the necessary information for the reconstruction
of the store had been collected. There was photographic documentation from three
sides of what the store looked like about 1890, and a painting of the remaining
side. The store's financial ledger gave detailed information concerning the goods
stocked and sold, and the management of the operation. Eyewitness descriptions
of the interior in 1 842 matched the hard evidence that Bray's archaeological inves-
tigations produced. Certainly, by May of 1973 the majority of the information
needed in a reconstruction of the Red Brick Store had been assembled and was
ready for application.
The reconstruction of the Red Brick Store sprouted full-grown within the
hierarchy of the Reorganized Church during the latter 1970s after F. Mark
McKiernan was hired to prepare a master plan for the church's historic properties.
Since McKiernan, a well-trained academic historian, was working at the organiza-
tion's headquarters in 1977, Duane E. Couey, a counselor in the first presidency,
asked him to assist Apostle C. Eugene Austin with a study of church history.
When the assigned books had been read, McKiernan somewhat jokingly
suggested that to finish the course Apostle Austin could either write a lengthy term
paper or they could take a field trip with their wives to Nauvoo to witness firsthand
the Mormon heritage of the community. The apostle opted for the latter.
Not long after returning from the Nauvoo trip, McKiernan and his family were
invited to the Austin home for a social gathering. Over ice cream and strawberries
Austin suggested that he was interested in having the church do something special
for its sesquicentennial in 1980, adding that perhaps a restoration of an historic
site would be appropriate. McKiernan seconded the idea, and mentioned that the
Red Brick Store was a likely candidate because of its economic and religious sig-
nificance. It had been a place where Joseph Smith blessed his son to be the next
leader of the church. This son, Joseph Smith III, became the president of the Reor-
ganization; consequently this blessing held great importance for members of the
movement. McKiernan and Austin decided to pursue the matter, intent on gaining
approval for the expenditure of approximately $300,000 for the Red Brick Store's
restoration.
The day thereafter, Austin went to see Wallace B. Smith, the president-desig-
nate of the Reorganization, about the possibility of such a reconstruction project
in celebration of the sesquicentennial. Austin suggested that the project would re-
quire the full support of the first presidency, that it would serve as a lasting tribute
to the heritage of the movement, and that it would allow the movement to interpret
more fully its history. Wallace B . Smith endorsed the program in principle.
Next, Austin and McKiernan visited Presiding Bishop Francis E. Hansen to
determine the potential for funding the program. Hansen, who had a deep appreci-
ation for the physical heritage of the movement, favored the project; however,
he had no budget for this $300,000 item. Austin asked the bishop if he would ac-
46 Joseph Smith, Jr.
cept the reconstruction of the store as a gift to the church from individual members;
it would not cost the movement anything until after reconstruction when the
church would maintain and interpret the building. Finally, all the permissions
were obtained, and McKieman was appointed project director to rebuild the Red
Brick Store beginning January 1, 1978.
The first business of the reconstruction program, of necessity, was the raising
of the $300,000 required for building the store. Apostle Austin, who had been
a professional fund-raiser before entering full-time service with the Reorganized
Church, developed the basic fund-raising technique. His plan called for the com-
mitment of a limited number of individuals to give $30,000 each over a three-year
period. McKieman suggested that ten individuals were sufficient to carry out the
reconstruction; however. Apostle Austin said he was partial to the number
twelve.'^ Accordingly, McKieman and Austin began the recmitment of twelve
"Friends of the Red Brick Store." During the next several months the twelve
friends committed to the project, some of them anonymously. This monograph
has been dedicated to them as a group, in partial recognition of their support of
the Red Brick Store reconstmction.
By October, 1978, all the funds necessary for the reconstmction has been sec-
ured. During this period McKieman and Austin sponsored three meetings of the
Friends. The first was held at the home of Wallace B. Smith in March of 1978,
just before the church's biennial conference, where the Friends enjoyed a quiet
dinner with the soon-to-be president of the church. In October, 1978, a weekend
meeting of the Friends was held on site at Nauvoo to explain in detail the recon-
stmction project. The last meeting of the Friends occurred in October of 1979
when the building was dedicated.
With funding secured, McKieman began the reconstmction process. He sec-
ured a team of architectural, curatorial, and historical professionals who had the
capability of making the Red Brick Store one of the finest historic sites of its type.
McKieman served as historian; George A. Lund headed a team of architects con-
sisting of Thomas Gibson of Lee's Summit, Missouri, and Robert Mack of Min-
neapolis, Minnesota; Irwin Fender, a contractor from Independence, Missouri,
was hired to build the stmcture; and Russell W. Pearson represented the church's
presiding bishopric in the project. Additionally, McKieman assembled the assist-
ance of several historic site specialists to provide expertise in early nineteenth cen-
tury buildings and artifacts: James Cope, director of Earlham College's museum
program at Conner Prairie, Indiana; Kenneth E. Stobaugh, director of the Joseph
Smith Historic Center; and Robert T. Bray, archaeologist from the University of
Missouri-Columbia. Finally, the head of the Reorganized Church's legal depart-
ment, Thomas Bennett, assisted with the project.
In Febmary of 1978 these people met in Nauvoo for a consultants' conference
to chart the course of the reconstmction. From the outset all agreed that the Red
Store Reconstruction 47
Brick Store project had to surpass tests of stringent historical authenticity for both
structure and artifacts, while meeting the standards of modern building codes. One
of the basic questions to be answered at the consultants' conference was what to
do with the existing foundation. Some of the purists wanted to have it salvaged
with an iron cage to support the rest of the building. Others thought this approach
would be too expensive, the foundation would be less firm, and the potential for
flooding too great. Instead, they wanted to use the old stones to build a new foun-
dation. By the end of the conference, the latter approach had won out. The consul-
tants also agreed to place utilities and other modem conveniences in the building
but to make them as unobtrusive as possible by hiding their presence.
After the conclusion of the consultants' conference, McKieman and a few
other key individuals worked with George Lund to match the historical documents
and archaeological findings with his architectural drawings of the store. There was
a real concern that not only the features of the building were accurate, but that
they had the feel of 1842. For example, as the work progressed, Lund had the
paint chips found during the foundation's excavation analyzed chemically for
color and texture, and then matched the paint proposed for the interior of the store
to these findings. Without question, the red interior in the rebuilt store was the
same as the red that Joseph Smith described to Edward Hunter.
Irwin Fender and his son, Paul, owned the construction company that built
the store. Beginning in October, 1978, Fender and his crew began work on the
building. They took tremendous pride in their work. As Reorganized Church
members, the Red Brick Store held greater significance for Fender and his crew
than it might have otherwise. At no time did the contractor consider this an ordi-
nary construction project; indicative of this was the firm's diligence in completing
the reconstruction ahead of schedule and under budget. Historic reconstruction re-
quires diligent attention to small detail and extra work that a modem building does
not necessitate, and this crew accepted the challenge and produced a superior
product. Recognizing this, Wallace B. Smith, who had become president of the
Reorganized Church in April of 1978, wrote the crew a personal letter expressing
his gratitude for their interest and quality of work.
This does not mean that the reconstmction progressed without any problems.
For instance, F. Mark McKieman made a mistake when he chose the glass for
the store's windows. Seeking to duplicate the shimmering effect of the nineteenth
century's poured glass, McKieman contracted for the production of artificially
duplicated panes. When it arrived, this glass was too distorted and had to be re-
jected. The only appropriate substitute was produced by a firm in France, and its
purchase would require an additional expenditure of $1 ,800. When the building
committee hesitated making this purchase, Irwin Fender stepped in and personally
bought the glass and had his men install it. He told McKieman that he wanted
this reconstmction done right with no exceptions.
During the constmction, Russell Pearson located a key that had been used at
the Red Brick Store. Seeking historical accuracy, the building committee searched
for an 1 840s lock that it would fit but found none among the various firms that
48 Joseph Smith, Jr.
produce that type of product. Again, working to ensure that the reconstruction was
well done, Irwin Fender contracted with the Block and Block Company of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the construction of a brass lock modeled after an-
tebellum styles for use on the building. The key and the lock were important to
the feel the Red Brick Store gave to its visitors. McKieman decided that a fitting
commemoration for those intimately involved in the reconstruction project would
be a copy of the Red Brick Store's key mounted in a handsome shadow box. Even-
tually, twenty-five of these commemorative items were produced and at a formal
ceremony on the evening of October 13, 1979, were given to the Friends of the
Red Brick Store and other important participants by President Wallace B. Smith
and his father, W. Wallace Smith, former president of the Reorganized Church.
Meantime, as the reconstruction of the building progressed, McKieman and
artifact consultants began purchasing artifacts and furnishings. Some of the pieces
to be displayed in the store were already in Nauvoo. The Joseph Smith Historic
Center owned the desk of Bishop Newel K. Whitney and two display cases that
had been used in the store during the prophet's lifetime. These were moved to
the building after reconstruction. McKiernan also contacted antique dealers and
reproduction companies for artifacts and furnishings for the store. He, along with
Kenneth E. Stobaugh and George Lund, visited Old Sturbridge Village, Stur-
bridge, Massachussetts, to confer with the nineteenth century restoration experts
there. These individuals assisted greatly in the acquisition of 1 840s merchandise.
McKiernan and his colleagues also relied on the expertise of Pete and Tacie
Campbell of Galena, Illinois, in the acquisition of 1840s Upper Mississippi River
furniture. The most difficult artifacts to find were the two iron stoves used in the
building. With the cooperation of officials from the Old Vandalia State House,
located in Vandalia, Illinois, Pete Campbell was able to obtain on loan an authen-
tic stove used in the state during the Mormon period. He had it sent to a Galena,
Illinois, foundry where it was dismantled and duplicated before return. One of
the replicas was placed in the main room on the first floor and the other went into
the upper room.
In October, 1979, the Red Brick Store was dedicated in a formal ceremony.
It was an impressive reconstruction, adhering to the accepted standards for histori-
cal authenticity and presenting a very satisfying forum for the teaching of the Lat-
ter Day Saint experience in 1840s Nauvoo. During the years since its reconstruc-
tion, the store has become a part of the popular culture of the town. Many of the
people visiting historic Nauvoo make it a part of their tour. It has also become
a significant part of the tourist trade. Most souvenir shops have photographs,
prints, postcards, cross-stitch kits, t-shirts, and refrigerator magnets for sale de-
picting the store. The building's popularity, however, arises from its significance
in Mormon history. It means different things to different people, of course, but
it encapsulates more than any other historic site in the town the triumph and
Store Reconstruction 49
tragedy, the beauty and horror, the secular authority and the spiritual experience
of Mormon Nauvoo. Some undoubtedly perceive the Red Brick Store as little
more than an exceptional reconstruction. Many of those who trace their religious
commitments to Joseph Smith, however, perceive it as something more. The
Reorganized Church honors it as the location where Joseph Smith III was blessed
as successor to the presidency of the movement by his father. Many members of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognize the building as the place
where the prophet first taught temple ceremonies and organized the Female Relief
Society. For those involved in the many sects of Mormonism, the Red Brick Store
can be understood as a place where events critical to their heritage hapjjened. All
who see the reconstructed store can agree with the prophet's 1842 statement that
there was a beautiful view of the river from his office window.
5
Red Brick Store Daybook
Without question, the most important document bearing upon the history of
the Red Brick Store was the daybook of transactions kept there between June 25,
1842, and June 23, 1844. This first week's entries for the daybook - the original
is located in the Masonic Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and microfilm and photo-
copies of the original can be obtained in many research libraries maintaining large
Mormon holdings - have been transcribed without alteration or annotation and
reprinted here. Each entry contained an account number, the name of the pur-
chaser, whether it was a cash or credit transaction , whether it was a purchase from
the store or a credit to the individual, the item exchanging hands, and the cost
in either dollars, cents, or bits. The division of the dollar into the old style bits
used by the Spanish for their doubloons, one-eighth of the total, was not uncom-
mon during the early nineteenth century. In the daybook, whenever one sees a
number followed immediately by a slash, the price has been charged in bits. For
example, a 16/ equals $2.00, a 12/ equals $1.50 and a 6/ equals 750. On some
occasions, the clerk entered a purchase in both bits and cents, designated by a
number separated by a slash from another number. Thus, an entry that read 2/6
would be translated as two bits, 6<^ or 310. To aid in reading the daybook, we
have compiled the following list of unusual abbreviations and initials:
Cash
Dr
Credit
Crt
V O
Verbal Order
r
ream
C
Cloth
Pr
Pair
Hkf
Handkerchief
Thursday Nauvoo III June 25 1842
Alfred Brown
Dr
184 To Paid Man V O in Sugar
1.00
20'^ Sugar for Self
2.00 = 3.00
Sidney Roberts
Crt
192 By Order from John Taylor 16/
2.00
OP. Rockwell
Dr
35 To 1 Bottel Opodeldue
.19
52 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Margaret Butterfield for Husband Dr
26 To Paid P. Gamer V O $3.00
Aaron Johnson Dr
142 To Paid Sister Michel V O $1.95
J C Kingsbury Dr
175 To 7"^ Sugar (g 10« .70
2'^ Coffee (5 1/6 .38=1.08
N K Whitney Dr
177 To 3 doz Eggs @ 6" .18
To 2 10/16"' Butter @ 8* .21 = .39
Nauvoo House Dr
182 To Paid Order to John Fido 1 .00
To Paid Order to Jn" Robinson 1 .00
To '/2 2r paper for G Miller .16 = 2.16
John Wilkie Dr
127 To Paid Order to Harvy Green 1 .50
To 1 Rim Lock 16/ 2.00 = 3.50
W & W Law Dr
185 To Paid Order to Jn° Snider 2.00 = 2.00
John Taylor Dr
128 To Paid Order to Bearer 2.00 = 2.00
William Gamer Dr
189 To Paid Order to Seth Rigby 1 .00
E Robinson Dr
200 To Paid Order to Levi Stewart 1 .00
To 1 Journal 16/- Ledger 3 of 5.75
To 1 Day Book 30/ 3.75
To The above for Agriculture Society $10.50
Saturday June 25 1842
Joseph Smith Dr
178 To 1 Bunch Lacers .35
To 31 '/2 yd factry (cv \4^ wife 4.41
To 9 yds Cor'' Cotton (w 3/6 3.94
Red Brick Store Daybook ^^
To 6 do pepper & Salt (a 3/
To 4 do do do & 4/6
To 1 2 do Stripe Cotton @ 2/
To 41/2 do do do @ 3/
To 4 do Gingham @ 3/3
To 2'/2 do Bleach factry @' 2/6
2.25
2.25
3.00
1.69
1.63
.75 = $20.33
William Marks
183 To 18'^ Sugar (a 10« •
To 1'^ pepper 1/6
Dr
1.80
.19=1.99
James W. Rollins
188 To Order on Wolley for Hat
Dr
1.00
Temple Committee
202 To 32'^ Sugar for R Cahoon
To 1 Rim Lock del'^man for Higby
Dr
4.00
2.00 = 6.00
Cornelius P. Lott
176 To 27"^ Bacon = 5*
To Paid Order to Wm Parker
Dr
1.35
2.00 = 3.25
Edward Hunter
34 To 1 Rim Lock
Dr
S2.00
Arthur Milliken
172 To Paid Aired for Rode Tax
To 4 yds Edgin (a 6"
Dr
1.00
.25=1.25
Saml H Smith
193 To l'/2 Bush Meal (0 3/
Dr
.56
Brigham Young
187 To 8'^ Salt (a y'
Dr
.24
Monday June 27'M842
Temple Committee
202 To 4'^ Nails for R. Cahoon
Dr
.50
Theodore Turley
199 To 4'^ Sugar per Daughter
Dr
.50
54 Joseph Smith, Jr.
R. Hadlock Dr
179 To Paid Order to G. Wirick 2.00
Ebenezer Robinson Dr
200 To Paid Order to Iron Works .62
To Paid Order to Pierce Hopper 6.88 = 7.50
Jolin Regan Dr
197 To Paid Order to Bearer 2. 12
Willford Woodruff Dr
165 To Paid Order to bearer 1 .85
E. Robinson Dr
1 16 To Paid Order to W" Middleton $10.00
Joseph W. Coolidge Dr
174 To Paid Order to James Easton 1 .00
Temple Committee Dr
202 To Paid Order to W Chapman 2.00
To Paid Order to Noah Packhard 1 .50
To 1 2r paper for Higbee .31 =3.81
Nauvoo House Dr
182 To Paid Order to Jo' Garlock 1 .00
To Paid Order to E P Merriam 1 .50
To Paid Order to James Bever 1 .00
To Paid Order to Mathew Wilson 1 .00
To Paid Order to Nuhless Welch .50 = 5.00
To 6 yds Domestic pr E Miller (a 14 .54
To 10 yds fine Shirting (5 2/6 3.29
To 9 yds Stripe Drilling @ 2/ 2.25
To Thread 16^ Pins 1/ .29 = 6.67
To 4"' Sugar pr G Miller .5Q
12.17
Loren Walker Dr
56 To 1 Pr Suspenders 6/ .75
Jas H Rollins Dr
188 To 1 pr Side Combs .10
To 11 "'Beef® 3 .33
To 1 '"Coffee .19 = 62
Red Brick Store Daxhook
55
Tuesday June ZS'*" 1842
N K Whitney
177 To Paid Hird Girl
Dr
$8.50
Agnes Smith Dr
204 To 2 Small Side Combs 16" 6"^ Sugar 6/
.91
John Cleaveland
29 To Paid Mssr Carter V O
Dr
1.25
Joseph Smith (Wife)
178 To 6 yds Stripe Drillin (a II
To 1 Vi yd Canvas C 2/ (for W Walker)
To 1 1/2 doz Buttons @ 2/
To 14 yds Ribband Cg 10**
To 2 yds Cambrick (g 1/6
To 4'^ spice (fi 1/6
Dr
1.50
.38
.37
1.40
.38
.75 = 4.78
William Manhard
16 To this amt deH Miles & Loveland
Dr
$6.45
Joseph W Coolidge
174 To Cash by the hand of J Smith
Dr
$2.00
Willard Richards
201 To 1 Stock (Neck)
To Comb also
Dr for Hayton
1.50
.13=1.63
W" Walker
199 To 1 pr suspenders
To 1 Sheet Wadding
Dr
.75
.13 = .}
H.C. Kimball
96 To 31 3/4 yds factry (g. 14*
Dr
$4.45
W"^ Walker
199 To 4 yds Gray Janes (5 5/
To 3/4 Padding (5 4/
To 3/4 Canvass @ 2/
To l'/2 doz Buttons (S 1/6
Dr
4.00
.38
.19
; = 4.85
Printing Office
163 To 2 Rim Locks (g 16
Dr for W Richards
$4.00
56 Joseph Smith, Jr.
N K Whitney Dr
177 To 4 Doz Eggs 2/ wire 1/ .38
To 4 1/16'" Butter (a 8 .33
To 1 paper pin 1/ .12 = 83
William Marks for Son Dr Henry Dr
183 To 3 yds Striped drill (a 6/ 1.50
To Thread & Buttons .19
To 3/4 Drill ^ 2/ .19=1.88
Thursday June 30'*' 1842
Joseph Smith Dr
178 To 1 Nars Card .25
To le"' Sugar (a 1/ 2.00
To Floor Plank 1.15
To 3 Palm Leaf Hats (a Al 1 .50
To 1 Col" (5 2/6 .31
To 8'" Coffee (a 1/6 1.50
To I Cain Hat 16/ 2.00 = 8.71
Nauvoo House (for H Miller) Dr
182 To 10'/: yds mix'^ drill (S 2/6 3.29
To 1 Hkfs 4/ .50
To 2 Doz Pant Buttens 1/ .13
To 2 pr Butts (5 1/6 .38
To 3 Doz Screws (a 1/ .37
To Blk & Blue Thread 2/ .25
To 1 Rim Lock 16/ 2.00
To 28 '/2 yd Sheeting (a 14* 3.99
To 9 yds Bleach Cotton (5 II 2.25
To 3 Spool Cotton (a 8*" .25
To l'/2 doz Buttons 1/6 .19
To 3/4 Padding (a 4/ .38
To 3/4 Canvass (a II twist /6 .25 = 14.23
Crt
182 By Cash per H Miller $15.00
William Marks Dr
183 To Paid Order for H Marks $7.00
Dimick Huntington Crt
1 18 By W'" Marks Order for Goods $7.00
Red Brick Store Daybook 57
-Dr_
To 5'/: yds stripe Drill C«' 2/ 1 .38
To Thread 22
1.50
Arthur Millikin Dr
172 To 1 Bush Corn 2/ .25
To 1/4'" Salts® 2/ .06 -.3 1
R Hadlock Dr
179 To 6'" Whiting (§• 10<J .60
To 1 Doz pr Butts (w 1/3 I '88
To 1 Gros Screws 11/ 138
To 1 do do 5/6 .69
To Paid Order to Mr Niewanger 5.00
To Paid Order to Bearer 10.00= 19.55
C.P. Lott Dr
176 To 1 Steel Spade 12/ 1.50
Willard Richards (Clayton) Dr
231 To 31/2 "' Loaf Sugar II .88
W W Phelps Dr
195 To 17"* Pork @ 50 .85
To 2 3/4'" Sugar @ 10<J .28=1.13
Agnes Smith Dr
204 To 1/2 Bush, Meal -19
Joseph W Coolidge Dr
174 To 1 Bush Meal 3/ -38
V Knight pr Wife Dr
190 To Combs 4/6 Buttons 2/6 88
Moses Smith Dr
180 To 10'" Sugar @ 1/ 1-25
William Walker Dr
194 To 1 Sheet Wadding .13
To 1 Skein Silk /6 .06 =.19
58 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Edward Hunter
134 To 1 Tin Can (Bent)
To do do do for E Martin
Dr
1.00
.75
Dimick Huntington
71 To 2 Hats (5) 2/6
Dr
.63
FridayJulyP'1842
W & W Law
1 85 To Paid Order to B Brown
To Paid Order to T D Turbull
Dr
8.00
37.00 = 45.00
John Taylor Dr
128 To Paid Order to Bearer 1 .50
Loren Walker Dr
26 To 1 pr Shoes 18/ 2.25
Arthur Millikin Dr
172 To 1 Pam Hat 4/ .50
To Ribband .10
To 1 Bush meal .25 = .85
J.C. Kingsbury Dr
175 To 1 yd Ribband .10
To 1 Hkf 4/ Penknife 3/ .88
To 1 fine Comb 1/ .12
To 2'/2 Yd Ribband @ 2/ .94
To Artificials 3/ .38 = 2.42
James H Rollins Dr
188 To 8"^ Bacon 5 .40
To 2'/2'^ Sugar @ 10 .25
To 1 Box Blacking .12 =.77
John Snider Dr
39 To this amt Paid for Oats $6.76
Joseph Smith for Wife Dr
178 To 2 Hkfs @ 3/ .75
To 1 yd Bonnet Silk 4/ .50
To 4 pr Gloves (w 2/6 1 .25
To 2 do Gloves @ 4/ 1 .00
To 5 pr Shoes @ 13/ 8.13
Red Brick Store Daybook 59
To 2 Combs (d' 1/ .25
To 2 do 1/3 .15
To I Doz fine Combs 16/ 2.00
To 6 pr Side Combs 3/ .38
To P'' mrs Hillman (for VO for Emmy) .79
To 2 Straw Bonnets (a 40/ 10.00
To 1 do do @ 32/ 4.00
To F* Tidwell for Emma Order 2.62 = 3 1 .83
W W Phelps Dr
195 To 1 fine Comb 1/4 .16
William Law for Wife Dr
159 To 13 yds Calico (a' 2/ 3.25
To 2 do do (a II .50
To 4 yds Stripe Drill (oj 3/ 1 .50
To 9 Yds Calico @ 3/ 3.38
To 4 Yds Gambon (a 5/ 2.50
To 5 do Striped Drill (cr 3/ 1.88
To 1 pr Shoes 13/ 1.63
To 1 pr Child Boots 8/ 1 .00
To 2 pr Red Boots @ 14/6 1.13
To Thread 2/ 1 pr Shoes 13/ 1 .87
To 10 Yds Bleach Cotton (ci lid 3.13
To Cotton Hoes 5/ .62
To 2 Palm Leaf Hats (a 3/ .75 = $23. 14
William Backinstos Dr
157 To 2 Neck Stocks 1-8/ 1-12/ $2.50
SB. Stoddard (pr V Knight) Dr
94 To 12 Yds Muslin Dalance (a 5/ 7.50
To 10 Yds Calico (a 2/ 2.50
To 7 do Shirting (a 2/ L75
To 6 do Calico (o 2/ L50
To 2 do Calico (a 2/8 .67
To 4 pr Gloves & 216 1.25
To 1 Willow Bonnet 10/ 1.25
To 1 Paper Pin 1/ .13
To 3 Spools Thread .25
To 1 Yd Silk Bonnet Lining 4/ .50
To 1'/: Yd Ribband (a 2/ .38
To 1 Mans Stock 1.00=18.68
To 1 '/4 yd Blue Cloth for Self @ 50/ 7.81
To 3/4 do Drill @ 2/ .19
To Silk 1/6 Button & Thread 1/ .32
60
Joseph Smith, Jr.
u
Red Brick Store Daybook
61
Photograph of the Red Brick Store, c. J885, showing the store front and east side . Courtesy of Kenneth
E. Stobaugh.
62
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Red Brick Store Daybook
63
Archaeological excavation ofilic RvJ Bnck Store mw. I '^7 2 ^ Courtesy ofF. Murk Mi Ku
'^
The Red Brick Store being reconstructed. Courtesy ofF. Mark McKiernan .
64
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Main counter of the reconstructed Red Brick Store . Courtesy of F. Mark McKier nan.
Counting room of the reconstructed Red Brick Store . Courtesy off. Mark McKiernan .
Red Brick Store Daybook 65
To Suspenders 6/ .75
To 2 Blk & Hkf (a 12/ 3.00=12.07
30.75
William Marks Dr
183 To i Cain Hat 2.00
To 2 Hat for Boy (a 3/ .75 = 2.75
Nauvoo House pr P Haws Dr Boy
182 To I Hat 3/ .38
To I pr Gloves pr H W Miller .88 = 1 .26
E Robinson Dr
200 To Paid Tomlinson V Order .33
Adam Lightner Dr
180 To i Small Hat 2/6 .31
Temple Committee Dr (for Cahoon & Higbee)
202 To I79'/4 Yd Sheeting (5 14'^
$25.10
To 60'/: do do @ 16''
9.68
To 36 3/4 Stripe Cotton @ 2/
9.19
To 40 '/4 yd do do (a 2/
10.00
To 27 '/4 Yds Sattinett @ 6/
20.44
To 273 Pant Buttons 9/
1.13
To 1 Gros Shirt Buttons (Bone)
.50
To 2 Doz Spools 16/
2.00
To 1'^ Cot Thread 12/
1.50 = 79.60
To Linnin Thread 7/- 12 pr Shoes 10/21
28.88
Willard Richards for J Young
Dr
201 To Paid Boy 6/
.75
Joseph Smith
Dr
178 To This Amt Goods for Mrs Thompson
2.10
D B Huntington
Dr
171 To Goods for Wife
3.00
Saml H Smith
Dr
193 To 1 Palm Leaf Hat 3/6
.44
To 3 Yds Cot Cloth @ 2/
.75
To 1 pr Shoes 12/
1.50
To 1 do do 14/
1.75
66
Joseph Smith, Jr.
To do do 13/
To 4"' Sugar 4/
To 31 Yds Factry @ 16*
To 27 Yd Calico @ 2/
To 3 pr Gloves @ 2/6
To 1 yd Edgin (5 8*^'
To 1 Bonnet 10/
To 2 Yds Ribband @ 1/4
To 21/2 Yd do @ 1/6
To 2'/4 Yd Check @ 2/
To 1 fine Comb 1/
To 1 Coars Comb 1/
To 1 pr Side Combs /lO
To 3 Yds Linnon Drill @ 4/
To 3 Spools Cotton (a /6
1.63
.50
1.76
6.75
.94
.25
1.25
.33
.40
.56
.13
.12
.10
1.50
.19 = 23.89
Nauvoo House pr Mrs Haws Dr
182 To 3 pr Shoes @ 13/ 4.88
To 1 pr Smal Shoes (5 8/ 1 .00
To 1 do do do (5 10/ 1.25
To Paid J W Johnson on Nauvoo Note 21 .00 = 28. 13
William Marks
183 To Paid Agnes Smith
To 2 pr Shoes (5 12/
Dr (for Daught)
1.00
3.00 = 4.00
E Robinson
200 To 1 Gros Small Screws 4/6
Dr
.56
Nauvoo House (for Mrs. Haws)
182 To 2 fine Combs @ 1/
To 2 pr Side Combs @ 10
Dr
.25
.20 =.45
Wm Law for Wife
159 To 30 '/2 Yds domestick @ 160
Dr
$ 4.
Agnes Smith
204 To Paid Mis Merrick
Dr
1.63
William Walker
194 To 1 pr Gloves 7/
Dr
Joseph W Coolidge
205 To Paid Jones & Harts V O
Dr
$40.60
Red Brick Store Daybook 67
Arthur Millikin Dr (Wife)
172 To 1 pr Gloves 2/6 .31
To 1'/: Yd Silk (a 8/ 1.50
To 3/4 Yd Silk (a 4/ .38
To 3 Yds Ribband (a' 2/ .75
To '/2 Yd Book Muslin ((/ 5/ .31
To 2 pr Side Combs (a 10 .20
To 1 fine Comb 1/ .13
To 4 Spools Cotton fa 60 .25
To 1 Umbrella 12/ 1.50
To pr Shoes 16/ 2.00 = 7.33
Agnes Smith Dr
204 To 1 '/2 yd Bonnet Silk @ 4/ .63
To 1'/: yd Silk (a 8/ 1.50
To 1 pr Gloves 2/ .25
To 2 Yds Bonnet Silk (a 8/ 2.00
To 2 Combs Ca 1/3 .31
To 6 Yds Check (a- 2/ 1 .50
To 6 Yds Ribband @ 20 1 .20
To 4 do do (ft 3/ 1 .50
To 1 do do (ft 10 .10
To 6 do do (a 2/ " 1 .50
To 17 yds Calico (5- 2/ 4.25
To 2 do foundation (§' 2/ .50
To 8 yds factry (ct 1 3 1 .04
To 1 pr shoes 8/ 1 .00
To 1 pr do 6/ .75
To 2 pr do (a> 5/ 1 .25
To 2 pr Slips & 10/ 2.50
To Hat 3/ 1 pr Shoes 13/ 2.00
To 8 Yds Calico (a 2/ 2.00
To 9 do do (gi 2/ 2.00
To 1 paper Pins 1/ .13 = 27.92
Agnes Smith Crt
204 By Sidney Roberts order 4.00
By Sml H Smith order 1.75 = $5.75
Loren Walker Dr
56 To 1 pr Gloves 7/ .88
To 2 Hkfs @ 3/ .75
To 1 do 5/ .63
To 1 pr Boots 4.50 = 6.76
68 Joseph Smith, Jr.
Aaron Johnson Boy Dr
142 To 1 Hat 3/ .38
W"' Walker Dr
194 To 1 pr Boots 4.50
To 1 pr Shoes 2.25
To 2 Hkfs @ 3/ .75
To I do 5/ .63
To 1 Stock 16/ 2.00=10.13
R Hadlock pr Wife Dr
179 To 3 Willow Bonnets (a 10/ 3.75
To 3 Yds Ribband (5 16*^' .48
To 121/2 Blk Lace Ca II l.IO
To 3 Yds Drilling (a 2/ .75
To 6 yds Calico (^i lib 1.88
To do do (5 2/ .50
To Vi do Lace @ 8/ .50 = 8.96
W'" Huntington Dr
27 To Bal on Goods for Wife 1 .97
William Marks pr Daught Dr
183 To 2 pr Shoes (& 12/ 3.00
Saml H Smith Dr
193 To 1 pr Shoes for Wife 1 .50
To Paid Agnes Smith V Order 1.75
Lyman O. Littlefield Dr Wife
181 To 1 pr L Boots 2.00
To 15 yds Domestick (a 16 1/3 2.40
To 3 do Crash (5 16 .50
To 7 Yds Calico for Mary 1 .75 = 6.65
N K Whitney Dr
177 To cash 3/ Balone 140 .52
Daniel H Wells pr Wife Dr
104 To 1 Boys Cap 8/ 1.00
To 2 yds Ribband (a 2/ .50
To 2 pr Stay Backs 3/ .38
To 6'/2 yd Saxony (a 5/ 4.00
To 1 pr Cisfors 2/6 .31
To 1 Collar Ladis 3/ .38 = 6.63
Red Brick Store Daybook 69
W"^ Manhard
Dr
16 To 2 pr Shoes 12/ & 14/
3.25
To 3 Yds Calico 4/6
.56
To 1 Bonnet 10/ pd Girl 2/
1.50
To Knives & Forks 6/
.75
To pins 1/ pepper & Spice 2/
.38
To 1 Looking Glass 3/6
.44
To 3'/2 yds Linnen 14/
1.75
To 12 yds Cotton @ \4^'
1.68=10.31
Temple Committee for Higbee
Dr
202 To 1 pr Boots (fine)
3.25
To 1 Neck Stock 9/
1.13
To 1 pr Gloves 7/
.88
To 1 Stock for F M Higbee
1.50-8.51
David Manhard
Dr
264 To 1 pr Shoes 13/
1.63
To 1 do do 14/
1.75
To 33'/: Yds White Cotton (a 1/6
6.29
To 7 do 4/4 Calico @ 3/
2.63
To 5 do drill (a 2/
1.25
To 1 pr Gloves 2/6
.31
To Buttons /6
.06
To 3 yds Calico 3/
.38
To Cloth Brush 3/6
.44
To 1 Pencil 2/ Calico 6/
1.00
To 1 Umbrella 11/
1.25
To British Oil 1/
.12
To Pd Girl 10/
1.25
To 3 yd drill 9/
1.13
To 2 Hkf 8/
1.00 = 20.61
To 32 yds Cotton Sheeting 140
4.48
To Paper 1/ Knives & forks 6/
.88
To Spice 1/6
.19
26.16
Printing Office Dr
163 To Paid Asa Works $3.81
J W Coolidge Dr
205 To 6 pr Table Butts @ 1/3 .74
To Gros Screws (a 5/6 .69
To do do 4/ .50
To do do 10/ 1.25
To do do 9/ 1.13
70
Joseph Smith, Jr.
To 4 pr Door Butts @ 100
To 2 Cupboard Lock (a 1/6
To 1 Pencil /6 1 Cain Hat 16/
To 1 pr Shoes 1 8/
To 1 pr do 12/
To I palm L Hat 2/3
To 1 yd Riband 100
.40
.38
2.06
2.25
1.50
.25
.10 =
.48
Temple Committee
Dr for Cahoon
202 To 12 Yds Woosted (a 6/6
9.75
Nauvoo House pr H Miller
Dr
182 To 1 pr Shoes 13/
1.63
To 1 Hat 3/
.37
To 21/4 drill @ 2/6 for P Haws wife
.71
To 2 yds do (a' 3/ do
.75
To 15 do Calico (a 3/
5.63
To 16 do do (a 33 1/3
5.33
To 2 paper pins
.25
To 3 Hair Combs 3/
.38
To 1 do do 1/3
.15
To 30 3/4 factry (ci 13 cts
4.00
To 1 pr Scissors 2/6
.31
To 1 1 yds Calico @ 2/
2.75
To 4 do Check 1/6
.75 = 23.01
Saturday July Z** 1842
William Marks Dr
183 To Paid Colard Man V O
.75
N.K. Whitney
177 To 1 Stock Linnin Tape for Sarah
Dr
10
J B Noble
38 To 2 Palm Leaf Hats (a) 3/
Dr
.75
J C Kingsbury
175 To 1 pr Shoes 13/
To Pd Harmon 9/
To Paid Cluff
To do Mrs Lightner 6/6
Dr
1.62
L12
.35
.81=3.91
L O Littlefield
181 To 8 yds Calico (& 2/
To l'/2 do Diaper (5 1/6
Dr
2.00
.28
Red Brick Store Daxhook ^'
To I Sett Knives & forks
1.50
To Spoons 1/6
.19
To Edgin 1/
.13 = 4.10
James M. Rollins
Dr
188 To 3 Spoons
.19
To '/2 yd Lace 4/
.30
To 4 yd Edgin 2/
.25 = .94
Desdemony Fulmer
Dr
83 To 1 '/: Yd Silk (a 8/
1.50
To 1 pr artificial 3/
.38
To 2 yds Ribband (a 11
.50
To 1 do foundation 2/
.25
To 1 pr Gloves 2/6
.31
To I Hkfs 2/3 1 at mull 6/
.78
To 1/: Yd Book Muslin Qx 5/
.31
To 2 do Edgin (a 1/
.25
To 1 Spool /6
.06
To 2 Skeins Silk 1/
.13
To 2 pr Hoes (a 11
.50
To 1 pr Scissers 2/6
.31
To 1 Pr Shears 5/
.63
To 6 Yds Wire & ^
.19
To 2 Spools 1/
.13
To 2 pr Side Combs
.12
To 2 Back Comb (a 1/
.25
To I PS Brade 1/
.13
To 10 yds factry (a 11
2.50
To 2 Spools Thread 1/
.13
To 1 fine Comb 1/4
.16
To 1 yd Calico 11
.25
To 1 do foundation 11
.25 = $10.02
Hiram Smith
Dr
37 To 1 pr Shoes
1.75
To 1 Riding Whip
1.50
To 34 Yds Sheeting (a 13 cts
4.42 = 7.67
G W Thatcher
Dr
1 96 To Bal on Goods this day
S 5.50
Joseph Smith
Dr
178 To 95'^ Sugar (S 1/
11.88
To 17'^ Codfish (a 10*
1.70
To Paid this amt to man
10.00
72
Joseph Smith, Jr.
To 2 fine Straw Bonnets for
Eliza Partridge
To 278'" Sugar @ 12'^'=*
7.00
33.36 = $63.94
Moses Smith
186 To Goods Del'* Barlow V O
To this Amt Goods for Self & man
Dr
$ 25.37
24.21
49.58
Aaron Johnson
142 To Bal on Goods this day
Dr
$ 2.2!
Willford Woodruff
165 To 3 11/16"^ L Sugar & 20*^
To 2'/2 Yds Blk Camb (a 1/6
To 1 Spade 10/
Dr
.75
.47
1.25 = 2.47
Wilson Law
166 To 1 Whip 12/
Dr
.50
Willard Richards
201 To P'* Caroline Tomlinson
To P'* Miss Nickerson (for Clayton)
Dr
1.75
1.00 = 2.75
John Taylor
128 To 1 pr Shoes 12/
To 3 Yds Ribband (a 10*^'^
To 1 do do (oj
Dr
.50
.30
.06
William Symons
1 14 To i pr shoes 16/
Dr
$ 2.00
William Law pr wife
159 To 8 Yd Calico (5 1/
To 1 pr Small Shoes 8/
Dr
1.00
1.00 = 2.00
J W Coolidge Dr
205 To 1 pr Shoes 2.00
To 12 Yd Stripe Cotton (S 2/6 Buttons 1/ 3.88
To Thread do 1/ 2 Hkfs 6/ 3 Hkfs 3/ 1 .25
To 2 Yds Sheeting 2/ .25 = 7.38
del** Fisher & Himself
Red Brick Store Daybook 7i
Truman Brace Dr
21 To this amt Goods this day as on Bill $25.52
Brigham Young Dr(pr Boy)
187 To 1 pr Shoes 2.25
To 1 do Small Shoes 1 .00
To 1 Cradle Scythe for Man 1.50 = 4.75
C.P. Lott Dr
176 To 36 Yds Cotton (g 16* 5.76
Nauvoo House Dr
182 To 1 pr Shoes for H Miller 1 .63
To Pines 1 Miller 13
To Jeans Miller -35
To 1 pr Boots Miller 4.00 = 6.11
D. Huntington Dr
171 To 4 Skeins Silk (a 6" .25
To 2 Yd Lace 4/ Riband 3/ .88 = 1 . 1 3
C.P. Lott Dr
176 To I Sett Knives & forks 2.00
James H. Rollins Dr
188 To 3'/: Doz Eggs @ .21
To 2'^ Butter .16 =.37
William Law Dr
159 To 1 pr Shoes for Wife 75
Arthur Millikin Dr
172 To 3 Yds Wire (a ^ .09
To 1 Box Hooks & Eyes 66
To 1 pr Scissors 2/6 31
To 1 Shawl 5/ -63
To 1 Hkfs 2/3 1 pr Shoes 12/ 1.78
To 5 Bunch Butting (5 1/ .63
To 1 pr Suspenders 6/ .75 = 4.25
WW. Phelps Dr
195 To I yd Ribband .13
74
Joseph Smith, Jr.
N.K. Whitney
177 To Paid Girl
To do do
Dr
1.24
2.37 = 3.66
Theodore Turley
199 To 2 Combs for Girl
Dr
.25
James H. Rollins
To 4 yds Calico @ 2/-
To 1 Bonnet 10/
To 1 paper Pins 1/
To '/2 Yd Sassinet 2/
To 2 Yds Ribband 4/-
To 2 do do
To I Hkfs 4/
To 2 pr Shoes 1 3/
To Piad Mrs Hyde
2/-
Dr
1.00
1.25
.13
.25
.50
.25
.50
1.63
.50 = $6.01
35
Porter Rockwell
To '/2 Doz S. Collars @ 2/3
Dr
1.69
Willard Richards
201 To Goods this day del"* J Youngs PM Rend
To 6 Yds Sheeting (5 1/6 for Mrs Hyde
To this Amt Goods deld Mrs Hyde
Dr
34.43
1.13
6.10
41.65
Joseph C. Kingbury
175 To 1 Umbrella 10/
To Paid McBride for Rails
To 7 Yds Bleach Cotton (a> 1/6
Dr
1.25
2.00
1.31=4.56
N.K. Whitney
17 To 3 Doz Eggs
To 1 pr Shoes 12/
To 2 Barlows 2/
To Wicking & Gloves 3/6
Dr
.19
1.50
.25
.44 = 2.38
Joseph Smith Jr (pr Son)
178 To 1 pr Boots del'' Roundy
Dr
4.00
Temple Committee
212 To 1 pr Boots Del'' Wm Kimball
To Thread for Hulett
Dr
3.50
.19 = 3.69
Red Brick Store Daybook 75
Nauvoo House Dr
182 To 1 pr Boots del^' J. Miller 3.50
To 1 pr Suspenders for G Miller Son .38
To I pr Shoes for P Haws Son 1 .62
To ! Yd Ribband 10 Son .10
To 1 pr Boots for G Miller 4.00 = 9.60
E Robinson Dr
200 To 1 pr fine Boots 5.00
To 1 pr Kid Slipd 12/ 1.50 = 6.50
E L Brown Dr
173 To P* S Wilson on Note 2/ .25
Lucy Foot Dr
X To Bal on Calico .29
Herber C Kimball Dr
96 To 1 pr Boots $4.50
William Law Dr
159 To Paid V Order for Meal $4.00
Isaac Chase Dr
136 To I pr Boots 3.50
To Pins 1/ Buttons 1/ .25 = 3.75
V Knight Dr
190 To 22 Yds Ticking (n II 5.50
To 32 do Sheeting (c/ n*' 4.16 = 9.66
Notes
1. Storekeeping in Nauvoo
' Joseph Smith, Jr. , the formal name of the founder and prophet of the Mormon reli-
gion, will be designated in this monograph as Joseph Smith. His son, when referenced,
will be distinguished as Joseph Smith III.
- The best introductions to the Mormon experience in Nauvoo are Robert Bruce Flan-
ders, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965);
David E. Miller and Delia S. Miller, Nauvoo: The City of Joseph (Santa Barbara: Peregrine
Smith, 1974). For a perceptive review of the literature on Mormon Nauvoo see Richard
D. Poll, "Nauvoo and the New Mormon History: A Bibliographical Survey," Journal of
Mormon History, 5 (1918): 105-23.
^ William V. Pooley, The Settlement of Illinois from 1830 to 1850 (Madison: Univer-
sity of Wisconsin Extension Service, 1908), p. 509; Ebenezer Robinson, "Items of Per-
sonal History," The Return (Davis City, Iowa), 2 (April 1890): 243; Joseph Smith, Jr.,
The History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, B.H. Roberts, ed. (Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976 ed.), 3:269-71; Mrs. Paul Selby, "Recollections of
aLittleGirl inthe Forties," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 16(1923-1924):
168-69. An intriguing description of the development of the Mormon concept of the King-
dom of God and its expression in Nauvoo can be found in Klaus J. Hansen, Quest for Em-
pire: The Kingdom of God and the Council of Fifty in Mormon History (Lincoln: University
of Nebraska Press, 1974ed.), pp. 72-89.
■* Flanders, Nauvoo, pp. 27-39; Lyndon W. Cook, "Isaac Galland - Mormon
Benefactor," Brigham Young University Studies, 19 (Spring 1979): 261-84; Robert Bruce
Flanders, "Dream and Nightmare: Nauvoo Revisited," in F. Mark McKieman, Alma R.
Blair, and Paul M. Edwards, eds. , The Restoration Movement: Essays in Mormon History
(Lawrence: Coronado Press, 1973), pp. 144-45; Ronald K. Esplin, ed., "Sickness and
Faith: Nauvoo Letters," Brigham Young University Studies, 15 (Summer 1975): 425-34;
Joseph Smith, "The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1832-1914)," Saints' Herald,
81 (13 November 1934): 1453-54, 81 (20 November 1934): 1479; Richard H. Jackson,
"The Mormon Village: Genesis and Antecedents of the City of Zion Plan," Brigham
Young University Studies, 17 (Winter 1977): 223-40; Donald L. Enders, "Platting the City
Beautiful: A Historical and Archaeological Glimpse of Nauvoo Streets," Brigham Young
University Studies, 19 (Spring 1979): 409- 15.
"^ George Miller, Correspondence of Bishop George Miller with the Northern Islander
from his First Acquaintance with Mormonism Up to Near the End of his Life. 1855,
Wingfield Watson, comp. (n. p., 1916), p. 117.
^ Srnnh, History of the Church, 4:111 -lS;Times and Seasons, 3 i\ April 1842): 750.
^ Thomas Gregg, The History of Hancock County. Illinois (Chicago: Charles C. Chap-
man. 1880), pp. 296-98.
^ Smith, History of the Church, 4:482.
^ Book of Doctrine and Covenents (Independence, Missouri: Herald F*ublishing
House, 1970 ed.). Section 107; Laurel B. Andrew, The Early Temples of the Mormons:
78 Joseph Smith, Jr.
The Architecture of the Millennial Kingdom in the American West (Albany: State Univer-
sity of New Yoric Press , 1 978) , chapters 4-5 .
'° W. Gerard Huslamp, "The Mormon Colony of Nauvoo, Illinois," Journal of the
West, 2 (October 1963): 470; Henry Lewis, Making a Motion Picture in 1848 (St. Paul:
Minnesota Historical Society, 1936), p. 51 ; Flanders, Nauvoo, pp. 194-96; Smith, History
of the Church, 1:434-35.
' ' Gregg, History of Hancock County, pp. 374-75; Millennial Star, 3 (August 1842):
78; Smith, History of the Church, 5: 1 66.
'^ Nauvoo Neighbor, December 1842-January 1844; Journal History of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 27 June 1 842, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Historical Department, Salt Lake City; Leonard J. Arrington, From Quaker to Latter-day
Saint: Bishop Edwin D. Woo/e-v (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), pp. 114-17.
' ^ Gregg , History of Hancock County , pp . 296-98 .
''* On the Law brothers see, Lyndon W. Cook, "William Law, Nauvoo Dissenter,"
Brigham Young University Studies, 22 (Winter 1982): 47-62.
'^ Joseph Smith, Jr., "History of Joseph Smith," Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
(Liverpool, England), 19 (10 January 1857): 20-21, 19 (20 June 1857): 391; Richard P.
Howard, ' 'The Joseph Smith Store: Church Headquarters at Nauvoo?' ' Saints' Herald, 1 1 8
(October 1971): 34.
'^ Joseph Smith III, "Memoirs," //eraW, 81 (18 December 1934): 1612.
'^ Joseph Smith, Jr. to Edward Hunter, 21 December 1841, in Smith, History of the
Church, 4:4S\-S3.
'« Ibid, 4:4S3.
'^ Joseph Smith, Jr., Estate Papers, Clerk of Court Office, Hancock County, Illinois,
Hancock County Courthouse, Carthage, Illinois.
^^ Smith, History of the Church, 4:476.
"' Lewis E. Atherton, The Frontier Merchant in Mid-America (Columbia: University
of Missouri Press, 1971), pp. 48-50.
^■^ Joseph Smith, Jr. to Edward Hunter, 5 January 1842, in Smith, History of the
Church, 4:49 \.
23 Ibid., 4:49\-92.
2"* Red Brick Store Daybook, 2 July 1842, Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ac-
cording to the daybook, the following individuals had accounts in the Red Brick Store:
James AUred Margaret Butterfield Joseph Durfee
William Backenstos Daniel Cams Erastus Drury
JohnBenbow Isaac Chase T.Emmons
John C. Bennett Ezra Chase George Fidler
John Bills William Clayton James Fields
John F. Boyington John Cleveland Lucy Foote
Truman Brace Robert Cliff William Ford
James Bradshaw Joseph W. Collidge Robert D. Foster
E.L.Brown Austin Cowles Desdemona Fulmer
Alfred Brown George W . Crouse William Gamer
Notes
79
Carolos Granger
Jedediah Grant
William Green
William Greenhart
Alphonso Greer
Reuben Hadlock
Peter Haws
Curtis Hodges
D.S.Hollister
Henry Humphrey
Edward Hunter
Dimick Huntington
William D. Huntington
Charles Irving
James Ivins
Captain Dan Jones
J.S. Jones
Aaron Johnson
HeberC. Kimball
Hiram Kimball
J.C.Kimball
Joseph C. Kingsbury
Vinson Knight
William Law
Wilson Law
James Lawrence
Julian Lawrence
Maria Lawrence
Nelson Lawrence
Sarah Lawrence
Peter Lemon
Adam Lightner
Lyman O. Littlefield
Cornelius P. Lott
Meltiah Luce
Amasa Lyman
John Lytic
HughMcFall
David Manhard
William Manhard
Stephen Markham
William Marks
Peter Maughan
ArthurMillikin
Alexander Mills
Thomas Moore
Isaac Morley
Jacob Morris
Arthur Morrison
Joseph Bates Noble
John Parker
WW. Phelps
E. Potter
John Regan
J.G. Remick
Asa Rice
Willard Richards
Alanson Ripley
Sidney Roberts
John R. Robins
Chauncey Robinson
Ebenezer Robinson
Orrin Porter Rockwell
James Henry Rollins
John Rollins
Shadrach Roundy
John Sanders
David Sessions
Aaron Smith
Agnes Smith
Hyrum Smith
Joseph Smith
Moses Smith
R.R.Smith
William B.Smith
John Snider
Orson Spencer
Hershel Sprague
J.W.Statham
Samuel B. Stoddard
William Symons
John Taylor
George W. Thatcher
AlvaTippits
John Toole
Theodore Turley
Newel K. Whitney
Loren Walker
William Walker
Lorenzo D. Wasson
Daniel H.Wells
Hamilton Lott
The following organizations also had accounts at the Red Brick Store:
Nauvoo Relief Society
Printing Office
Taylor & Woodruff
Temple Committee
W.&W.Law
Coolidge&Co.
Maid of Iowa
Nauvoo City Council
Nauvoo House
Nauvoo Masonic Lodge
-^ /Zj/J., 20 March 1843.
-^ /Z7/t/., 5 April 1843.
2^ //?/t/., 9 October 1843.
^^ Ibid. , passim; Miller and Miller, Nauvoo: The City of Joseph, p. 84.
"^ Arrington, From Quaker to Latter-day Saint , pp. 86-88.
80 Joseph Smith, Jr.
^ Ibid. ; Smith, History of the Church, 5:45, 6:3 1 7.
^' Smith to Hunter, 9 March 1842, \n Smith, History of the Church, 4:54S-49.
^^ Journal of Discourses, 1:214-16.
^^ Miller and Miller, Nauvoo: The City of Joseph, pp. 84-85; Nauvoo Neighbor, 15
May 1844.
^ Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon
Prophet (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971 ed.), p. 266; "Schedule Setting forth a List
of Petitions, Creditors, Their Residence and Amount Due Each," [March 1842], Joseph
Smith, Jr., Papers, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Library-Arc-
hives, Independence, Missouri.
^^ Lawrence W. Friedman, A History of American Law (New York: Simon and Schus-
ter, 1973), pp. 238-43.
^^ The Wasp (Nan\oo), 16 April 1842.
" Ibid., 14 May 1842, 18 June 1842, 16 July \S42; Sangamo Journal (Spungfidd),
1 July \S42;Smith, History of the Church, 4:594-95 .
^^ Flanders, Nauvoo, pp. 168-73; Dallin H. Oaks and Joseph I. Bentley, "Joseph
Smith and Legal Process: In the Wake of the Steamboat Nauvoo,'' Brigham Young Univer-
sity Studies, 19 (Winter 1979): 167-99.
2 . Center of Nauvoo Society
' Joseph Smith, Jr., "History of Joseph Smith," Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
(Liverpool, England), 19 (10 January 1857): 20-21, 19 (20 June 1857): 391; Richard P.
Howard, ' 'The Joseph Smith Store: Church Headquarters at Nauvoo?' ' Saints' Herald, 1 1 8
(October 1971): 34.
' "History of Joseph Smith," M/V/t-Aj/i/a/Srar, 19(20June 1857): 391.
-^ Joseph Smith III, "The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (1832-1914)," Saints'
//eraW, 81 (18 December 1934): 1611-14.
■* David E. Miller, "Westward Migration of the Mormons with Special Emphasis on
the History of Nauvoo," Report submitted to the National Park Service, 1963, pp. 106-10;
Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., "Eliza R. Snow's Nauvoo Journal," Brigham Young
University Studies, 15 (Summer 1975): 391-415.
^ Smith, "Memoirs," Herald, 81 (27 November 1934): 1513; Times and Seasons,
3 (ISJanuary 1842): 662-63.
^ Smith, "Memoirs," //^raW, 81 (27 November 1934): 1513.
^ Joseph Smith, Jr.. The History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
B.H. Roberts, ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976 ed.), 6:65-66, 21 1 .
* Robert Glen Cole, Afa50/j/cC/^a/img5(n.p.:Rable Printing Co., 1956), pp. 190-92;
Kenneth W . Godfrey , ' 'Joseph Smith and the Masons , ' ' Journal of the Illinois State Histor-
ical Societ}', 64 (Spring \91\): 19-90.
^ Horace Cummings, "History of Horace Cummings," n.p.. Special Collections,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
Notes ^l
'" Smith, History of the Church, 4:550-52; The Wasp, 30 April 1842.
" Robert Bruce Flanders, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi (Urbana: University
of Illinois Press, 1965), pp. 247-49; Ebenezer Robinson, "Items of Personal History,"
The Return (Davis City, Iowa), 2 (June 1890): 287; Smith, History of the Church, 4:608,
5.422, 430, 446, 6:287, 359-60.
'- Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes, 17 March 1842, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints Historical Department, Salt Lake City, Utah.
" I bid., 26 May 1842.
'"* Ihid.: Linda King Newell, "A Gift Given, A Gift Taken: Washing, Anointing, and
Blessing the Sick Among Monnon Women," Sunstone, 6 (September-October 1981): 16-
25.
'"^ Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes, 19April 1842.
'^ Ibid., 2SApn\ 1842.
'^ Newell, "AGiftGiven,AGift Taken, "pp. 16-18.
'^ Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds.. The Words of Joseph Smith: The Con-
temporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet (Provo: Brigham Young Uni-
versity Religious Studies Center, 1980), pp. 20-21.
''^ Smith, "Memoirs," //^ra/J, 7 1(27 November 1934): 1511.
-° Ehat and Cook , eds . , Words of Joseph Smith , pp . 3 1 9-20 .
-' Nauvoo Neighbor, llMay \S44.
-- See Joseph Smith . Daybook , passim .
-^ As evidence of this quorum's increasing influence in church affairs see T. Edgar
Lyon, "Nauvoo and the Council of the Twelve," in F. Mark McKieman, Alma R. Blair,
and Paul M . Edwards, eds. , The Restoration Movement: Essays in Mormon History (Lawr-
ence: Coronado Press, 1973), pp. 167-205.
-■* Times and Seasons (Nauvoo), 3 (1 September 1842): 909; Smith, History of the
Church, 6:63.
-■' Smith, History of the Church, 4:434, 474-75.
-^ James B. Allen and Thomas G. Alexander, eds., Manchester Mormons: The Jour-
nal of William Clayton. 1 840- 1 842 (Sah Lake City: Peregrine Smith, 1974), p. 214;Journal
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints, 23 October 1842, Latter-day
Saints Historical Department.
-^ James B. Allen, "One Man's Nauvoo: William Clayton's Experience in Mormon
Illinois, ' ' Journal of Mormon History. 6 ( 1 979): 42-43.
-^ Nauvoo Neighbor, 18 June 1842-27 November 1845.
"^ Sm'\th, History of the Church, 5:166.
-^" I bid., 5: 196-91.
■^' Ibid., 5:3S2.
^- Ibid., 7:456-77, 479-80; "History of Brigham Young," Millennial Star, 26 (7 May
1864): 316; Flanders, Nauvoo, pp. 306-41 .
82 Joseph Smith, Jr.
^■^ Joseph Smith, Jr.. to Edward Hunter, 5 January 1 841, in Smith, History' of tiie
Church, 4A9\.
^'^ ''History ofSoscph Smith:' Millennial Star, 19(20 June 1857): 391 .
^^ Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1968 ed.). Sections 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131,
132. The background for these sections is in Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the
Prophet Joseph Smith (Provo: Seventy's Mission Bookstore, 1981 ), pp. 242-95. The Reor-
ganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the second largest Mormon organiza-
tion, accepts only three documents of Joseph Smith's written during the Nauvoo period.
See Book of Doctrine and Covenants (Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House,
1 978 ed.). Sections 107, 109, 110.
-^^ Smith, "Memoirs," S<//m5'/y^ra/(/, 82 (2 April 1935): 432.
^'^ The controversy over plural marriage has prompted voluminous studies in recent
years. A valuable survey of the literature of this subject is Davis Bitton, "Mormon
Polygamy: A Review Article," Journal of Mormon History, 4 (1977): 101-18. The most
extensive studies of the origins of plural marriage are Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexu-
ality: Three American Communal Experiments of the Nineteenth Century (New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1981); Danel W. Bachman, "A Study of the Mormon Practice of
Plural Marriage Before the Death of Joseph Smith," (Master's thesis, Purdue University,
1975); Donna Hill, Joseph Smith: The First Mormon (Garden City: Doubleday and Co.,
1977), pp. 335-61. On the Ohio origins of the doctrine see Danel W. Bachman, "New
Light on an Old Hypothesis: The Ohio Origins of the Revelation on Eternal Marriage,"
Journal of Mormon History, 5 (1978): 19-31 . For a different approach to the subject see
Richard P. Howard, "The Changing RLDS Response to Mormon Polygamy: A prelimi-
nary Analysis," yoMrMa/o///?^^^/!^ Whitmer Historical Association, 3 ( 1983): 14-29.
"^^ Joseph Fielding Smith, Blood Atonement and the Origin of Plural Marriage (Inde-
pendence, Missouri: Zion's Printing and Publishing Co., 1905), n.p.; W.W. Phelps to
Brigham Young, 12 August 1861 , Brigham Young Collection, Latter-day Saints Historical
Department, Salt Lake City; Doctrine and Covenants of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, Section 1 32; George A. Smith to Joseph Smith III, 9 October 1 869, Historian's
Office Letterbook, Latter-day Saints Historical Department; Robinson, "Items," Return,
3 (February 1890): 29-3iO, Journal of Discourses, 3:266.
^"^ William Clayton, Diary, 12July \S43,asquoted'ir\Clayton'sSecret Writings Unco-
vered: Extracted from the Diaries of Joseph Smith's Secretary William Clayton (Salt Lake
City: Modem Microfilm Co., n.d.), p. 20; Allen, "One Man's Nauvoo," p. 52.
'^^ William Clayton, "Another Testimony - Statement of William Clayton," 16 Feb-
ruary 1 874, William Clayton papers. Latter-day Saints Historical Department.
'^' Andrew Jenson, "Plural Marriage," A//5/onra//?^cor(i, 6 (July 1887): 226.
"*" Deseret News (Sa\t Lake City), \4 September IS52; Journal of Discourses, 17:159
Horace K. Whitney, Journal, 14 March 1847, Latter-day Saints Historical Department
Joseph Smith III, "LastTestimony of Sister Emma," Sam/i' A/^ra/J, 26(1 October 1879)
289-90; Joseph Smith III and Heman C. Smith, The History of the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House,
1973 ed.), 3:351-52. Joseph Smith III, son of the prophet and staunch opponent of plural
marriage, documented his mother's destruction of the document in his diary. "Visited
Notes 83
James Whitehead [at Alton, llhnoisl had chat with him. He says that he saw the Rev about
I page foolscap paper. Clayton copied it an it was this copy mother burned." See Joseph
Smith III. Diary, 20 April 1885, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Library-Archives, Independence, Missouri.
"*^ Oliver Cowdery, "Egyptian Mummies," Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advo-
ra/^{Kirtland, Ohio), 2 (December 1 835): 234-37.
■*^ F. Mark McKiernan and Roger D. Launius, eds.. An Early Latter Day Saints His-
tory: The Book of John Whiimer (independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House,
1980), pp. 147-48.
-*' "Book of Abraham," Times and Seasons. 3 ( 1 March 1842): 703-706, 3(15 March
1 842): 7 1 9-22 .3(15 May 1 842): 783-84; Smith, History of the Church. 4:520-34.
^" Pearl of Great Price (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1968 ed.), "Book of Ab-
raham."
"'^ Ehat and Cook, eds.. Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 378-83; Newell G. Bringhurst,
Saints. Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism
(Westport. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981), pp. 34-35, 46-47, 125, 158, 170-71.
It should be noted that the Reorganized Church did not canonize the Book of Abraham and
has considered it little more than an interesting speculative document produced totally by
Joseph Smith. See Richard P. Howard, "Joseph Smith, the Book of Abraham, and the
Reorganized Church in the 1970s," '\n A Decade of the Besi: Elbert A. Smith Prize-winning
/4r//c7o (Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House, 1972), pp. 186-21 1 .
■*** Deseret News. 15 February 1884, semi-weekly, p. 2.
'^^ Quoted in Hyrum L. and Helen Mae Andrus, They Knew the Prophet (Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1974), p. 77.
""" Robert T. Bray, Archaeological Investigations at the Joseph Smith Red Brick Store
(Columbia: University of Missouri, 1973), pp. 73-74; John C. Bennett, The History of the
Saints: or an Expose of Joe Smith and Mormonism (Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842),
p. 275; James E. Talmage. The House of the Lord (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1968), pp. 152-68.
''' Smith, History of the Church. 7:364; Minutes of Meeting, 26 January 1845, Miscel-
laneous Meeting Minutes Collection. Latter-day Saints Historical Department.
''" Deseret News. 15 February 1884, semi-weekly; L. John Nuttall. Diary, 7 February
1877, Latter-day Saints Historical Department. For information on the development of
Mormon Temple architecture see Laurel Blank Andrew, The Early Temples of the Mor-
mons: The Architecture of the Millennial Kingdom in the American West (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1979); Virginia S. Harrington and J. C. Harrington, /?^^/5-
covery of the Nauvoo Temple: Report on Archaeological Excavations (Salt Lake City:
Nauvoo Restoration Inc., 1971 ); Stanley B. Kimball, "The Nauvoo Temple, /w/?ro\fw«'«;
Era. November 1963, pp. 974-84; Lisle G. Brown, "The Sacred Departments for Temple
Work in Nauvoo: The Assembly Room and the Council Chamber," Brigham Young Uni-
versity Studies. 19 (Spring 1979): 360-74.
-' --nxslory oUosQ^\\S\r\\l\\." Millennial Star. 19 (20 June 1857): 390-93. This refer-
ence, however, was a reconstruction of the event by scribes afterward and was incorrect
in certain particulars. The meeting, for instance, included William Law, a member of the
84 Joseph Smith, Jr.
church's first presidency, and William Marks, Nauvoo stake president. Moreover, the
"highest order of the Melchizedek Priesthood" supposedly was restored at a different
meeting on 28 September 1843. See Eldon Jay Watson, ed., Manuscript History of
Brigham Young (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968), p. 1 16; Heber C. Kim-
ball, Journal, "Strange Events" section located just before 1845 entries. Latter-day Saints
Historical Department; Young Women s Journal, 5 (August 1894): 513; Newel K. Whitney
Account Book, Box 6, Folder 15, Newel K. Whitney Family Collection, Special Collec-
tions, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
^^ Heber C. Kimball to Parley P. Pratt, 17 June 1842, Parley P. Pratt and Heber C.
Kimball Papers, Latter-day Saints Historical Department.
^^ Robinson, "Items," /?e'/wr/i, 2 (April 1890): 252.
^^ William Clayton, Journal, 3 February 1844, as quoted in Allen, "One Man's
Nauvoo," pp. 47-48.
" Robinson, "Items," /?t-m/7j, 2 (April 1890): 253-54.
^^ D. Michael Quinn, "Latter-day Saint Prayer Circles," Brigham Young University
5rM^/>:?, 19 (Fall 1978): 82-89.
""^ Kimball, Journal, 26 January, 15 April, I October, 29 October 1845; Smith, History
of the Church, 1:3>%1; Quinn, "Prayer Circles," p. 92; Brown, "Sacred Departments for
Temple Work," pp. 365-74; Roger D. Launius, "Joseph Smith III and the Mormon Suc-
cession Crisis, 1844-1846," Western Illinois Regional Studies, (y{S^T'\ng 1983): 3-22.
^ Blessing of Joseph Smith III, 17 January 1844, Reorganized Church Library-Arc-
hives. An account of the blessing is in "Testimony of James Whitehead," in Complain-
ant's Abstract of Pleading and Evidence in the Circuit Court of the United States, Western
District of Missouri, Western Division, at Kansas City, Missouri (Lamoni, Iowa: Herald
Publishing House, 1893), pp. 27-28, 32; Autumn Leaves (Lamon'], Iowa), 1 (May 1888):
202; W. W. Blair, Diary, 1 7 June 1 874, Reorganized Church Library-Archives; Alexander
H. Smith, Diary, 14 May 1864, Reorganized Church Library- Archives.
^' Joseph Smith, Jr., Journal, 21 January 1844; Wilford Woodruff, Journal, 21 January
1844, both in the Latter-day Saints Historical Department; Ehat and Cook, eds.. Words
of Joseph Smith, pp. 317-19. A discussion about the authority, meaning, and nature of his
blessing can be found in D. Michael Quinn, "Joseph Smith Ill's 1844 Blessing and the
Mormons of Utah," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 15 (Summer 1982): 69-90;
W. Grant McMurray, "'True Son of a True Father': Joseph Smith III and the Succession
Question," in Maurice L. Draper, ed.. Restoration Studies I (Independence, Missouri:
Herald Publishing House, 1980), pp. 131-45.
3. From Decline to Destruction, 1844-1890
' Anson Call, "Life and Record of Anson Call," p. 27, Special Collections, Harold
B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
" Williams M. Daniels, "Narrative," Journal of History, II (October 1919): 406.
See also Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused
Assassins of Joseph Smith (Vrhana: University of Illinois Press, 1975), pp. 6-29.
^ Emma Smith to Joseph L. Heywood, 18 October 1844, Manuscript Collections,
Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.
Notes 85
^ Joseph Smith III, "The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith (I832-19I4)," Saints'
Herald, 82(5 Fcbruar>' 1935): 176.
"'' Joseph Smith III to Emma Bidamon, 8 March 1863, Emma Smith Bidamon Papers;
Joseph Smith III to Thomas Reveli, 2 July 1880, Joseph Smith III Papers; Joseph Smith
III to Maj. L.C. Bidamon. 4 September 1875, Lewis Crum Bidamon Papers, all in Reor-
ganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Library- Archives, Independence, Mis-
souri. For a general introduction to Bidamon see Valeen Tippetts Avery and Linda King
Newell, "Lewis C. Bidamon: Stepchild of Mormondom," Brif^ham Young Universit\
Studies, 19 (Spring 1979): 375-88.
''' Joseph Smith III. "Autobiography," in Edward W. Tullidge, Life of Joseph the
Prophet (Pldno. Illinois: Herald Publishing House, 1 880), p. 755.
^ A study of the importance of the grain trade and how businessmen tried to control
it can be found in John G. Clark, The Grain Trade of the Old Northwest (Urbana: University
of Illinois Press, 1966).
^ Smith, "Autobiography," in Tullidge, Life of Joseph, pp. 755-56; Smith,
"Memoirs," Herald, 82 (12 February 1935): 209-10, 82 (19 February 1935): 239-40;
Joseph Smith III to Mary B. Smith, 4 December 1876. Joseph Smith III Lettcrbook #1,
Reorganized Church Library-Archives.
"^ Smith, "Memoirs." /y^raW. 82 (5 February 1935): 176-78, 82 (12 February 1935):
207.
'*' The Mormon stake was an administrative jurisdiction consisting of several congre-
gations in close geographic proximity.
" Smith, "Autobiography," \nTu\Udge, Life of Joseph, pp. 782-83; Early Reorgani-
zation Minutes, Book A, 6 April 1865, Reorganized Church Library-Archives; Smith,
• • Memoirs, • ' Herald, 82(16 April 1 935 ): 496-97 .
'- Emma Smith Bidamon to Joseph Smith III, 22 October 1866, Emma Smith Bidamon
Papers.
' Thomas Gregg, History of Hancock County. Illinois (Chicago: Charles C. Chap-
man, 1 880). p. 959.
'^ Robert T. Bray, Archaeological Investigations at the Joseph Smith Red Brick Store.
Nauvoo. //////w.v (Columbia: University of Missouri, 1973), pp. 17,23-29.
''' Nauvoo Independent, 4 My 1890, 8 August 1890.
'^' Bray. Archaeological Investigations, pp. 34-35: T. Edgar Lyon, Research His-
torian. Nauvoo Restoration, Inc.. to F. Mark McKiernan. 14 July 1972.
4. Store Reconstruction
' These difficulties have been described in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts
Avery, "Lewis C. Bidamon: Stepchild of Mormondom," Brigham Young University
Studies. 19 (Spring 1979): 375-88; Newell and Avery, "The Lion and the Lady: Brigham
Young and Emma Smith," Utah Historical Quarterly. 48 (Winter 1980): 81-97; Roger
D. Launius. "Joseph Smith III and the Mormon Succession Crisis, 1844-1846," Western
Illinois Regional Studies, 4 (Spring 1983): 5-22.
86 Joseph Smith, Jr.
^ These episodes received attention in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery,
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy' s Foe
(Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1984); Alma R. Blair, "The Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Moderate Mormons," in F. Mark McKieman, Alma
R. Blair, and Paul M. Edwards, eds. , The Restoration Movement: Essays in Mormon His-
tory (Lawrence: Coronado Press, 1973), pp. 207-30; Roger D. Launius, ""And There
Came Prophets in the Land Again': The Life of Joseph Smith 111, I832-19I4, Mormon
Reformer" (Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 1982).
^ The cemetery, located on the Homestead grounds, contained the bodies of Joseph
Smith, Sr., and Lucy Mack Smith, the parents of the prophet; of Joseph and Emma Smith;
of Hyrum, Samuel, and Don Carlos Smith, brothers of the prophet; Lewis C. Bidamon,
Emma's second husband; and numerous other relatives.
"^ The Nauvoo restoration effort has been reviewed in T. Edgar Lyon, "The Current
Restoration in Nauvoo, Illinois," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, 5 (Spring
1970): 11-25.
^ The center's summer internship program was recognized by a certificate of commen-
dation from the American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, Tennessee,
in 1977. Richard D. Poll, "Nauvoo and the New Mormon History: A Bibliographical Sur-
vey," Journal of Mormon History, 5 (1978): 107; "Historic Sites Receive International
Recognition," Saints' Herald, 125 (February 1978): 55. A solid description of the Reor-
ganized Church's efforts in Nauvoo can be found in Kenneth E. Stobaugh, "The Historic
Site: A Living Document of the Past," Saints' Herald, 1 24 (October 1977): 31-34. Indica-
tive of the quality of archaeological excavation were the site reports. See especially, Robert
T. Bray, Archaeological Investigations at the Joseph Smith Red Brick Store, Nauvoo, Il-
linois (Columbia: University of Missouri, 1973) and Robert T. Bray, Times and Seasons:
An Archaeological Perspective on Early Latter Day Saints Pringing (Columbia: University
of Missouri, 1976).
^ These plans were formalized for all the Reorganized Church's historic sites during
1970s. See F. Mark McKieman, Preserving and Interpreting Our Physical Heritage: A
Master Plan of the Historical Properties of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter Day Saints (Independence, Missouri: Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, 1977).
^ A group from the Ladies Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints visited the store site to have their picture taken there. The building held significance
for them because their society was founded at that location in 1842. Unfortunately, the
woman holding the camera, to get everyone into the picture, kept backing farther away.
Eventually, she fell backwards into the basement ruin. Medical assistance was summoned
from Carmen Ourth, a local nurse who came over on a bicycle, but the woman was not
badly injured. Interview with Kenneth E. Stobaugh, Louisville, Kentucky, 20 September
1984.
^ The first week of the daybook has been reproduced in Chapter 5 .
^ Interview with Kenneth E. Stobaugh, Nauvoo, Illinois, 2 April 1985.
'° Joseph Smith, Jr., to Edward Hunter, 5 January 1842, in Joseph Smith, Jr., The
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, B.H. Roberts, ed. (Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1976ed.), 4:491-92.
Notes 87
' ' Bray , Archaeoloi>ical lnvestii>ali()ns at the Red Brick Store, p. 33 .
'- In the foreground, this painting shows a picnic scene of a woman, two girls, and
a boy wearing a round hat. Each of these people was significant to Daivd Smith. The
woman represented his mother, Emma Smith, and the girls were childhood friends Rosy-
land Newberry and Emma Austin, while the boy is the artist as a child. The painting is
the property of David Smith's grandson, Lynn Smith, of independence, Mis.souri. Lynn
Smith has spent a lifetime collecting material concerning his grandfather and has the finest
collection of his art and music that exists.
'^ This is an example of apostolic humor.